“I’m writing to you in the hope that can save my brother’s life”– Sister of man imprisoned in Saudi Arabia asks Lewis Hamilton for help

Tanish Chachra | 03/12/2021
"I’m writing to you in the hope that can save my brother’s life"– Sister of man imprisoned in Saudi Arabia asks Lewis Hamilton for help

Zeinab Abu Al-Kheir, sister of a man imprisoned in Saudi Arabia, asks reigning world champion Lewis Hamilton to save her brother.

Lewis Hamilton acknowledges the accusations of human rights violations in Saudi Arabia. Yet, he is travelling to the middle-east nation to race this weekend.

However, within the territory of Saudi Arabia, the reigning world champion didn’t hesitate to share his opinions. Seeing Hamilton as hope Zeinab Abu Al-Kheir, sister of a man who is imprisoned to death in Saudi Arabia has asked the 37-year-old F1 driver for help.

“Dear Lewis, I’m writing to you in the hope that can save my brother’s life,” Abu Al-Kheir wrote last week to Hamilton from her home in Canada in a letter shared exclusively with the AP. “Just saying his name while you are in Saudi Arabia may be enough.”

On Thursday, Hamilton was asked about the letter writer by Al-Kheir. The Brit replied: “I’m not really sure which letter you’re referring to, so I can’t really comment on that one.”

However, for her, Hamilton is the biggest hope as F1 is probably the most talked about thing in the region, and hamilton is the biggest personality on the grid.

“A famous man like Hamilton can do something, he can talk with the prince (Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman), the minister of interior or even with King Salman,” Abu Al-Kheir said from her home near Ottowa. “People like Hamilton bring attention to the governments everywhere.”

Also read: Jeddah F1 track designer responds to recent safety criticisms on the circuits

Drug-related charges in Saudi Arabia

Al-Kheir reveals that her brother was sentenced to death over drug-related charges. She further claims that the 56-year-old man was unwittingly used as a drug mule.

While crossing the border from Jordan, Saudi Arabia’s customs officers one day searched his car, and when arrested, was horrifically tortured in the cell.

“For 12 days, my brother told the officers the truth: that he knew nothing about the pills,” Abu Al-Kheir wrote in her letter. “They suspended him from the ceiling, upside down, and beat him on every part of his body.”

‘The torture was so severe that even a year later, we could see the marks. Eventually, he falsely admitted to trafficking the drugs.”

Also read: Amnesty expects Max Verstappen to speak against human rights violations in Saudi Arabia amidst first race in middle-east nation

Post Edited By: Tanish Chachra
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About the author

Tanish Chachra

Tanish Chachra is the Motorsport editor at The SportsRush. He saw his first race when F1 visited India in 2011, and since then, his romance with the sport has been seasonal until he took up this role in 2020. Reigniting F1's coverage on this site, Tanish has fallen in love with the sport all over again. He loves Kimi Raikkonen and sees a future world champion in Oscar Piastri. Away from us, he loves to snuggle inside his books.

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