DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — A Saudi courtroom has sentenced a person to dying over his posts on X, previously often known as Twitter, and his exercise on YouTube, the newest in a widening crackdown on dissent within the kingdom that has drawn worldwide criticism.
The judgement towards Mohammed bin Nasser al-Ghamdi, seen Wednesday by The Related Press, comes towards the backdrop of doctoral scholar Salma al-Shehab and others going through decadeslong jail sentences over their feedback on-line.
The sentences seem a part of Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman’s wider effort to stamp out any defiance within the kingdom as he pursues large constructing initiatives and different diplomatic offers to lift his profile globally.
“Al-Ghamdi’s dying sentence over tweets is extraordinarily horrific however stands according to the Saudi authorities’ escalating crackdown,” mentioned Lina Alhathloul, the pinnacle of monitoring and advocacy on the London-based advocacy group ALQST.
“Prolonged jail sentences issued at no cost speech, equivalent to 27 years towards Salma al-Shehab, haven’t obtained adequate outcry, and the authorities have taken this as a inexperienced gentle to double down on their repression,” Alhathloul mentioned. “They’re sending a transparent and sinister message — that no one is protected and even a tweet can get you killed.”
Officers didn’t instantly reply to a request for remark over the sentence handed down by Saudi Arabia’s Specialised Legal Court docket, which was established to listen to terror circumstances however now additionally weighs fees towards activists.
In keeping with courtroom paperwork, the fees levied towards al-Ghamdi embody “betraying his faith,” “disturbing the safety of society,” “conspiring towards the federal government” and “impugning the dominion and the crown prince” — all for his exercise on-line that concerned re-sharing critics’ posts.
Saudi officers provided no purpose for why they particularly focused al-Ghamdi, a retired college trainer residing within the metropolis of Mecca. Nevertheless, his brother, Saeed bin Nasser al-Ghamdi, is a widely known critic of the Saudi authorities residing in the UK.
“This false ruling goals to spite me personally after failed makes an attempt by the investigators to have me return to the nation,” the brother tweeted final Thursday.
Saudi Arabia has used arrests of relations previously as a way to stress these overseas into returning house, activists and people focused previously say.
The sentence drew instant criticism from worldwide rights teams.
“Repression in Saudi Arabia has reached a terrifying new stage when a courtroom can hand down the dying penalty for nothing greater than peaceable tweets,” mentioned Joey Shea, a researcher at Human Rights Watch.
Saudi Arabia is among the world’s prime executioners, behind solely China and Iran in 2022, in response to Amnesty Worldwide. The variety of individuals Saudi Arabia executed final yr — 196 inmates — was the best recorded by Amnesty in 30 years. In in the future alone final March, the dominion executed 81 individuals, the most important recognized mass execution carried out within the kingdom in its fashionable historical past.
Nevertheless, al-Ghamdi’s case seems to be the primary within the present crackdown to stage the dying penalty towards somebody for his or her on-line conduct.