The sons of two Islamic scholars facing execution in Saudi Arabia have called on the University of Cambridge to abandon plans to train staff from the kingdom’s defence ministry, warning that the deal would “legitimise” Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman’s “false narrative of reform”.
In a joint letter addressed to Lord Chris Smith, Cambridge’s chancellor, and Professor Deborah Prentice, its vice-chancellor, Abobaker Almalki and Abdullah al-Odah said they felt “compelled to reach out as families who have spent years watching our loved ones suffer for exercising the very freedoms that the university stands to protect”. Their fathers, the Islamic scholars and authors Hassan Farhan al-Maliki and Salman al-Odah, have been prosecuted for almost a decade and are now said to face the death penalty on a “range of vaguely formulated charges”, according to international human rights organisations.
The Training Proposal
Cambridge’s Judge Business School has been authorised to offer “leadership development” and “innovation management” training for civilian staff of the Saudi Ministry of Defence. Documents seen by The Guardian show that officials from the business school sought and received permission from the university’s Committee on Benefactions and External and Legal Affairs (CBELA) “to enter into a memorandum of understanding” with the Saudi ministry at a meeting in January. Professor Prentice chairs the committee. The proposal was approved in principle despite internal opposition over the kingdom’s record on human rights and academic freedom.
The business school had requested the MoU to develop executive education courses, with preliminary goals covering innovation management, leadership development and healthcare administration. A spokesperson for the university declined to comment on the sons’ letter and referred to a previous statement from the business school, which said: “Cambridge Judge Business School has not signed such an MoU with the Saudi Arabia defence ministry.” Senior academics at Cambridge have described the proposal as “horrifying” and a “betrayal of Cambridge University’s commitments to freedom of expression”. Jemimah Steinfeld, chief executive of the free-speech organisation Index on Censorship, called it “repugnant”.
Human Rights Concerns and the Scholars’ Charges
Al-Maliki, a religious reformer and commentator, has been imprisoned since 2017. He has been accused of multiple crimes, including holding interviews with overseas media, possessing banned books, questioning Islamic texts, criticising religious scholars, insulting rulers, and sympathising with groups such as Hezbollah and the Houthis. Al-Odah, also an Islamic scholar and author, was arrested the same year on the basis of his social media posts and accused of “mocking the government’s achievements” and other charges before the country’s secretive specialised criminal court. Both men, along with a third scholar, were arrested in 2017 for alleged “plotting against the state”, perceived as sympathy towards Qatar and the Muslim Brotherhood. Saudi prosecutors have called for the death penalty against both men.
The sons’ letter argues that a “prestigious partnership like this risks legitimising Mohammed bin Salman’s false narrative of reform, despite evidence of continued human rights abuses”. It notes that the Saudi authorities executed at least 356 people last year, the most in the kingdom’s modern history. Research by human rights organisations shows that executions have escalated sharply: 347 were carried out in 2025, surpassing the record 345 in 2024 and dwarfing the 172 of 2023. Executions for drug-related crimes have risen dramatically – 122 people were put to death for drug offences in 2024, compared with just two the year before. The death penalty is applied to a wide range of crimes, including non-lethal offences, and has been used to silence dissent. There are also concerns about the execution of minors, despite promises to limit its application.
Saudi Arabia ranks among the world’s worst countries for press freedom, coming 176th out of 180 in the 2026 World Press Freedom Index. Journalists and activists can face lengthy prison sentences for online expression, with counterterrorism and cybercrime laws used to criminalise free speech. Academic freedom is severely restricted: informers monitor classrooms, and the teaching of secular philosophy and religions other than Islam is banned. Human rights groups – including Reprieve, Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch – have documented a pattern of arbitrary and abusive practices targeting dissidents and activists, with Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman’s much-publicised “reform campaign” accompanied by deepening repression.
Jeed Basyouni, of the human rights organisation Reprieve, said: “Universities pride themselves on being the home of free thought and academic debate. Even in the face of external pressure, freedom of speech is meant to be upheld as a foundational principle of higher education. Hassan and Salman risk execution because they dared to express themselves, as scholars and public figures. A deal like this makes a mockery of the values that institutions like Cambridge claim to represent, and risks further legitimising Mohammed bin Salman’s draconian regime.”
Steinfeld, of Index on Censorship, added: “Even if an agreement is fleshed out to state academic freedom would be protected, self-censorship has a terrible habit of creeping in when money is on the line.” The sons’ letter insists that “the only meaningful safeguard is to insist that Saudi Arabia end its repression of freedom of expression and release those who are being prosecuted for nothing more than their beliefs, as a pre-condition for engagement”.
