Dr. ‘Abdullah Al-Hamid, a writer and former professor of contemporary literature at Imam Muhammad bin Sa’ud University, Riyadh, was sentenced to four months in prison on November 7, 2007, in Buraida, Saudia Arabia, for encouraging a public demonstration by the wives of detainees in the intelligence prisons. The wives claimed their husbands had not been charged or tried, despite being imprisoned for over two years. A number of the women were arrested, but released shortly afterward. Dr ‘Abdullah, along with his brother ‘Issa, was charged with “incitement to protest” and is due to start serving his sentence on March 8, 2008. He previously spent 17 months in prison after he and two other reformers were arrested in March 2004 for writing a petition to then-Crown Prince Abdullah, calling on the government to enact reforms with constitutionally guaranteed human rights. Amnesty International reports that he and his brother are at risk of torture if incarcerated.