A famous law professor in Saudi Arabia was sentenced to death for crimes including having a Twitter account and using WhatsApp to share news considered “hostile” to the kingdom, a report said.
Awad Al-Qarni, 65, was arrested in 2017 in a crackdown against dissent by the Saudi government under the new crown prince, Mohammed bin Salman.
Al-Qarni has been portrayed in Saudi-controlled media as a dangerous preacher. However, dissidents said Al-Qarni was an important and well-regarded intellectual with a strong social media following, including 2 million Twitter followers, The Guardian reported.
The details of the charges against Al-Qarni was shared by his son Nasser, who fled Saudi Arabia and is living in the UK, where he has sought asylum.
Human rights advocates and Saudi dissidents living in exile have warned that authorities in the kingdom are engaged in a new and severe crackdown on individuals who are perceived to be critics of the Saudi government.
This isn’t the first instance where a Saudi dissident was targeted by the crown prince.
Last year, Salma al-Shehab, a Leeds PhD student and mother of two, received a 34-year sentence for having a Twitter account and for following and retweeting dissidents and activists. Another woman, Noura al-Qahtani, was sentenced to 45 years in prison for using Twitter.
The prosecution documents, accessed by The Guardian, the use of social media and other communications has been criminalised inside the kingdom since the beginning of Prince Mohammed’s reign.
The Saudi government and state-controlled investors have recently increased their financial stake in US social media platforms, including Twitter and Facebook, and entertainment companies such as Disney.
Reports, earlier this month, said Saudi Arabia has infiltrated Wikipedia and jailed two administrators in a bid to control content on the website, activists said Thursday, weeks after a former Twitter worker was jailed for “spying” for the Saudis.
One administrator was jailed for 32 years, and another was sentenced to eight years, the activists said.
An investigation by parent body Wikimedia found the Saudi government had penetrated Wikipedia’s senior ranks in the region, with Saudi citizens acting or forced to act as agents, two rights groups said.
Read all the Latest News here
Comments
0 comment