US Citizen Sentenced To 16 Years In Prison In Saudi Arabia For Tweeting Disparaging Remarks
According to his son, an American citizen was detained in Saudi Arabia, subjected to torture, and given a 16-year prison term because of tweets he made from the country.
The Associated Press was informed that Saad Ibrahim Almadi, a 72-year-old retired project manager who lives in Florida, was sentenced earlier this month after being arrested in November 2017 while visiting family in the kingdom. This confirms information that was first reported by the Washington Post. Almadi holds dual citizenship with the US and Saudi Arabia.
Saudi officials did not immediately respond with any comments.
Vedant Patel, a deputy spokeswoman for the State Department, confirmed Almadi’s detention to reporters in Washington on October 18.
Ibrahim claims that his father was imprisoned as a result of 14 minor tweets that were made over the course of seven years on Twitter, largely criticizing alleged corruption and government policies. In the US, where the right to free speech is guaranteed by the constitution, he claims that his father did not engage in activism but rather expressed his views as a private person.
In a meeting with Prince Mohammed in the oil-rich country in July, President Joe Biden claims he questioned him about human rights. Biden’s earlier threat to declare the monarchy a pariah after the 2018 killing of Saudi journalist and Washington Post columnist Jamal Khashoggi was sharply reversed by their meeting and a highly criticized fist-bump.
Ibrahim claimed that on October 3 his father was found guilty of assisting terrorism and given a 16-year prison term. Given Ibrahim’s tweets, the father was also accused of failing to notify terrorism.
A 16-year travel restriction was imposed on his father as well. If the sentence is followed out, the 72-year-old will be 87 when he is released and will not be permitted to return to the US until he is 104.
Ibrahim claims that the Saudi government ordered his family to keep quiet about the incident and to avoid involving the US government. After the family contacted the State Department in March, he claimed that his father had been tortured.
Ibrahim claimed that the State Department had neglected his father’s case by failing to uphold his file by designating his father as an American who had been wrongfully detained.
News Mania Desk
