Khaled al-Johani (also al-Jehani,[1] Arabic: خالد الجهني, born 23 August 1971) is a teacher of religious instruction in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.
His public statement was made to a BBC Arabic Television team on a street in Riyadh in the presence of security forces.
[2][3][4] On 22 February 2012 he was charged in a court for al-Qaeda suspects[5] and a trial date set for April 2012.
[6] After the Arab Spring revolutions in Tunisia and Egypt in early 2011, some protests took place in Saudi Arabia.
[7] On that day, hundreds of people protested in Qatif, al-Awamiyah and Hofuf, but in Riyadh, the police presence was "overwhelming" by early morning, with large numbers of police cars present and helicopters that "crisscrossed the skies all day".
[8] Khaled al-Johani is the only person known to have reached the site of the public street protests in Riyadh or Jeddah on that day.
[6] On 22 February, Philip Luther of Amnesty International criticised the trial, stating "The fact that he is appearing before a court that was originally established to handle terrorism-related charges only adds insult to injury.