Key court decisions, ECHR filings, European Parliament submissions, NGO statements, and public legal materials connected to the case — organised by institution.
Al-Khalidi v. Bulgaria, Application No. 26364/24 — communicated April 2025, pending.
The application is registered before the European Court of Human Rights under No. 26364/24. The Court communicated the case to Bulgaria in April 2025.
The case has been through multiple rounds before the Sofia Administrative Court and the Supreme Administrative Court. The pattern: SAC annuls asylum refusals, lower court repeats errors, release orders go unexecuted.
Supreme Administrative Court overturns lower-court release order; detention continues.
Second court order for immediate release. State Agency for National Security issued a counter-order within days. Al-Khalidi remained detained.
Lower court repeated procedural errors previously identified by the Supreme Administrative Court.
The Supreme Administrative Court annulled three consecutive lower-court asylum refusals for procedural errors. See the full timeline for individual decision numbers and dates.
First court order for immediate release. Described by counsel and the applicant as the strongest single factual ground in the ECHR application.
Detailed timeline of all court decisions, detention orders, asylum refusals, and procedural turns from October 2021 to the present.
Urgent written question to the European Commission on detention and deportation risk.
Follow-up question and European Commission response on asylum, detention, return, and non-refoulement.
DROI study on transnational repression and host-state responsibilities, contextually relevant to the case.
Eighteen MEPs signed a letter to the Bulgarian PM urging release and warning against deportation.
Joint NGO statement calling on Bulgaria to suspend deportation.
Joint NGO statement on non-refoulement and asylum obligations.
HRW public statement warning against deportation to Saudi Arabia.
GCHR update on further extension and renewed health concerns.
Profile maintained by Front Line Defenders — active case with ongoing advocacy.
HRW statement urging Bulgaria not to return Al-Khalidi to Saudi Arabia, with detailed legal analysis of non-refoulement obligations.
HRW statement calling for investigation into reported physical mistreatment at Busmantsi, following credible accounts by the detainee and his legal counsel.
Urgent action document by Amnesty International on the Al-Khalidi case, calling for immediate release and protection from return to Saudi Arabia.
Joint statement by the International Federation for Human Rights and the World Organisation Against Torture raising the case and calling for release.
Joint appeal by Front Line Defenders and partner organisations calling for immediate release. Front Line Defenders formally recognised Al-Khalidi as a Human Rights Defender at Risk.
Annual reports by the Saudi human rights organisation ALQST documenting the Al-Khalidi case among broader patterns of transnational repression of Saudi nationals abroad.
New York Times investigation into conditions at Busmantsi, conducted with the Center for Legal Aid. Provides independent documentation of the detention environment.
The European Union Agency for Asylum annual report, which includes a contribution by the Center for Legal Aid documenting conditions at Bulgarian detention facilities.
Interview with Diana Radoslavova, founder of the Center for Legal Aid, on the legal situation, court rulings, and the broader systemic issues in Bulgarian asylum procedure.