The conference will take place next Wednesday in Wylie Hall 005.
The event will feature a lecture from Karen Elliott House, a Pulitzer Prize winning journalist and author, according to the University.
In March 2013, al-Qahtani was imprisoned in Saudi Arabia with a 10-year sentence on multiple charges, including planting seeds of sedition and breaking allegiance with the ruler, according to the University.
Al-Qahtani is co-founder of the Saudi Civil and Political Rights Association, the largest human rights group in Saudi Arabia.
Al-Qahtani earned his Ph.D. in economics from IU in 2002, according to the University.
Gerhard Glomm, the ?organizer of the conference and professor of economics, said in a University press release that the event will focus on whether or not fighting for human rights is an American interest or a luxury.
The panel at 4 p.m. will feature House, Lee Hamilton, and Eric Goldstein, deputy director of Human Rights Watch’s Middle East and North Africa division.
Patrick O’Meara, vice president emeritus of international affairs, according to the University will moderate.
The School of Global and International Studies, the Center for the Study of the Middle East, the political science and economics departments the Middle Eastern Law Student Association and anonymous donors will sponsor the conference.
Anna Hyzy
