RIYADH, Saudi Arabia — One day in November 2015, Saad Almadi wrote a 14-word message on Twitter about the deputy crown prince of Saudi Arabia. “Mohammed bin Salman has taken command of the economy, defense and everything under the King,” he wrote, responding to a professor who is a fierce critic of the kingdom’s monarchy.
Almadi, a dual Saudi-American citizen living in Florida, had little reason to believe his post would attract attention. He was a retired project manager, not an activist, and his words were largely true—Prince Mohammed had taken control of many of the levers of power since his father became King that year. .
However, the tweet resurfaced as evidence seven years later when Almadi, 72, was arrested during a visit to Saudi Arabia. Along with other tweets he wrote criticizing the Saudi government, that tweet was cited as evidence that he had “adopted a terrorist agenda by defaming state symbols,” according to court documents.
His prosecutor called for severe punishment, “to rebuke him and deter others.” In October, Almadi was sentenced to 16 years in prisonextended on February 8 to 19 years after he appealed.
Saudi Arabia has always been an authoritarian monarchy with limited freedom of expression. But 10 years ago, Almadi’s Twitter account, which has fewer than 2,000 followers, could have prompted a warning. Under Prince Mohammed, now Prime Minister, harsher punishments are imposed on citizens who criticize his government.
“My father is far from being a dissident,” said Almadi’s son, Ibrahim Almadi, describing him as an open-minded man who spent his retirement traveling, hiking and wine tasting.
“The scope of the oppression is really unprecedented,” said Hala Aldosari, a women’s rights activist who left Saudi Arabia in 2014 for a fellowship in the United States and said she never felt safe enough to return.
Since then, Prince Mohammed has launched an ambitious plan to diversify the oil-dependent economy and ended many religious and social restrictions. “People are being silenced in exchange for giving them certain rights,” Aldosari said.
Noura al-Qahtani was one of several people tried last year in connection with activity on social media. On her anonymous Twitter account, where she had about 600 followers, called for anti-government protests and wrote that Prince Mohammed was not “good enough to be a Prince.” A court sentenced her to 13 years in prison.
On appeal, she pleaded for leniency, saying she was in her late 50s with five children to care for, records showed. Instead, the judges extended his sentence to 45 years in prison.
A Saudi official said in a statement that the government was studying and putting in place new measures to improve human rights. But Saudi Arabia “maintains a zero tolerance policy when it comes to terrorism,” the official said.
“One of the merits of Mohammed bin Salman is that he has created equal injustice for everyone,” said Taha al-Hajji, a Saudi lawyer living in exile in Germany.
Karen Zraick contributed reporting to this article.
By: VIVIAN NEREIM
BBC-NEWS-SRC: http://www.nytsyn.com/subscribed/stories/6592731, IMPORTING DATE: 2023-03-01 23:40:08
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