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‘Horrific’: Death penalty for Saudi man over online posts, YouTube activity
Saudi Arabia is one of the world's top executioners, behind only China and Iran in 2022.
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.
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.
