Jeddah: An anti-terrorism court in Saudi Arabia sentenced a 47-year-old teacher to 20 years in prison based on a critical post on the social networking website Twitter.
According to the report of Human Rights Watch, Saudi Arabia’s Specialized Criminal Court Anti-Terrorism Tribunal has sentenced 47-year-old Asad Al-Ghamdi for several crimes in online messages.
The report stated that Saudi security forces arrested Asad al-Ghamdi on November 20, 2022, during a nighttime raid at his home in al-Hamdaniya, near Jeddah, while his wife and children told Human Rights Watch. Was informed.
Security forces seized electronic devices and searched the entire house and were not informed about the reason for their arrest or any case registered against them.
Asad al-Ghamdi was sentenced on May 29, 2024, Human Rights Watch said.
In Saudi Arabia, researcher Joy Shea said that while Saudi courts have been handing out decades-long sentences to civilians for peaceful expression online, the government should stop harassing the families of critics abroad.
One of his brothers, Muhammad al-Ghamdi, was also sentenced to death in July 2023 for his posts on X and ongoing activities on YouTube, the report said, as was another of his brothers, Saeed, an Islamic scholar known for criticizing the Saudi government. Bin Nasir al-Ghamdi is in exile and lives in the United Kingdom.
Human Rights Watch reports that their brothers in exile in the UK often criticize the Saudi authorities and their actions, and that the Saudi authorities target the families of those abroad in response.
