A Saudi court sentenced a man to death over his posts on X, formerly known as Twitter, and his activity on YouTube, marking the latest incident in a crackdown on dissent in the kingdom which has drawn international criticism. The judgement against Mohammed bin Nasser al-Ghamdi comes against the backdrop of doctoral student Salma al-Shehab and others facing prison sentences over their comments online.
The sentences are a part of Saudi Arabia crown prince Mohammed bin Salman's effort to stamp out any defiance in the kingdom.
“Al-Ghamdi’s death sentence over tweets is extremely horrific but stands in line with the Saudi authorities’ escalating crackdown," Lina Alhathloul, the head of monitoring and advocacy at the London-based advocacy group ALQST, said.
“Lengthy prison sentences issued for free speech, such as 27 years against Salma al-Shehab, have not received sufficient outcry, and the authorities have taken this as a green light to double down on their repression,” Lina Alhathloul said, adding, “They are sending a clear and sinister message — that nobody is safe and even a tweet can get you killed.”
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The sentence was handed down by Saudi Arabia’s specialized criminal court which used to terror cases but also weighs on charges against activists.
{{/usCountry}}The sentence was handed down by Saudi Arabia’s specialized criminal court which used to terror cases but also weighs on charges against activists.
{{/usCountry}}According to court documents, the charges levied against Nasser al-Ghamdi include “betraying his religion,” “disturbing the security of society," “conspiring against the government” and “impugning the kingdom and the crown prince” — all for his activity online that involved re-sharing critics' posts.
His brother Saeed bin Nasser al-Ghamdi- a well-known critic of the Saudi government living in the United Kingdom- said, “This false ruling aims to spite me personally after failed attempts by the investigators to have me return to the country."
“Repression in Saudi Arabia has reached a terrifying new stage when a court can hand down the death penalty for nothing more than peaceful tweets,” Joey Shea, a researcher at Human Rights Watch, said.
Saudi Arabia is one of the world's top executioners, behind only China and Iran in 2022, according to Amnesty International.