Dubai, UAE: A man in Saudi Arabia was sentenced to death for his posts on X, formerly known as Twitter, and his activity and comments on YouTube as the kingdom widens its crackdown on dissent despite widespread international criticism.
The judgement against Mohammed bin Nasser al-Ghamdi comes against the backdrop of doctoral student Salma al-Shehab and others facing decadeslong prison sentences over their comments online.
The sentences appear part of Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman’s wider effort to stamp out any defiance in the kingdom as he pursues massive building projects and other diplomatic deals to raise his profile globally.
“Al-Ghamdi’s death sentence over tweets is extremely horrific but stands in line with the Saudi authorities’ escalating crackdown,” said Lina Alhathloul, the head of monitoring and advocacy at the London-based advocacy group ALQST.
“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,” Alhathloul further said.
“They are sending a clear and sinister message — that nobody is safe and even a tweet can get you killed,” she added.
Ghamdi was handed the death sentence by a specialized criminal court which mostly deals with terror-related cases but has also been used to hold trials of dissenters and activists.
Nasser al-Ghamdi has been convicted of charges such as betraying “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, the court documents reveal.
According to data shared by Amnesty International, Saudi Arabia ranked third, behind China and Iran in executions in 2022.
(With inputs from the Associated Press)
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