A Saudi court handed a Sudanese journalist a four-year prison sentence on June 8 for social media posts critical of the kingdom, according to the group Human Rights Watch.
In a statement on Tuesday, HRW said Ahmad Ali Abdelkader, was charged with insulting state institutions and symbols and negatively speaking about the kingdom’s policies.
It added the charges were related to tweets and interviews in which he expressed support for Sudan’s 2018-2019 revolution and criticised Saudi’s actions in his home country and Yemen.
HRW’s deputy Middle East director Michael Page,” said jailing a media personality on bogus charges speaks more negatively about Saudi Arabia’s policies than anything Ahmad Ali Abdelkader ever posted.
He said this and other similar prosecutions demonstrate just how determined Saudi authorities are to stamp out even the most minor criticism or questioning on social media and deter all dissent under threat of long prison sentences.
According to HRW, Abdelkader was arrested at Jeddah airport on April 19 and denied access to a lawyer during the trial.
He was held for 20 days at a police station in Jeddah and then transferred to Al-Shumaisi detention centre near Mecca before facing a judge, they added.
The trial consisted of two short sessions, where he was unable to defend himself, according to a source with direct knowledge of the case.
The source added that Abdelkader was interrogated twice during his detention and accused of behaviour on Twitter that was harmful to the kingdom.
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