2023-08-31 12:47:00
“The Saudi authorities must annul the conviction and death penalty imposed on July 9 by the Specialized Criminal Court on Mohammad bin Nasser al-Ghamdia 54-year-old retired professor, solely for his peaceful online activity on Twitter and YouTube, and release him immediately,” Amnesty International said today.
Al Ghamdi’s brother told Amnesty International that State Security forces had arrested Mohammad on June 11, 2022, when he was sitting with his wife and children in front of their house in the Al Nawwariyyah neighborhood of the city of La Mecca. He explained that Mohammad was four months in solitary confinement in Dhahban prison near Jeddah, during which time he was not allowed to contact his family or a lawyer. He was only allowed to contact his family when, some four months later, he was transferred to Al Hai’ir prison in Riyadh.
“The Saudi authorities have spent billions of dollars trying to rehabilitate their image, but no amount of money can hide how repressive the country has become,” said Philip Luther, Director of Research and Advocacy at Amnesty. International for the Middle East and North Africa.
“The death sentence imposed on Mohammad bin Nasser al Ghamdi, who in total only has 10 followers on his two anonymous Twitter and YouTube accounts and is accused of nothing other than expressing his views on social media, is ridiculous. and a notable escalation of the kingdom’s repression against any form of dissent.”
“It is impossible to believe that the Saudi authorities are genuinely interested in reform when they continue to resort to the death penalty in violation of international law, including executing minors and people convicted in mock trials just for opposing the government.” .
According to the sentence handed down in the case of Mohammad bin Nasser al Ghamdi, which has been analyzed by Amnesty International, he was found guilty under articles 30, 34, 43 and 44 of the Saudi anti-terror law. Their alleged crimes include “renouncing allegiance to the custodians of the state”, “supporting a terrorist ideology and a terrorist entity (the Muslim Brotherhood)”, “using their Twitter and YouTube accounts to follow and promote people trying to destabilize public order” and “sympathizing with people detained on terrorism charges.” The indictment reviewed by Amnesty International cited several tweets convicting al-Ghamdi, criticizing the Saudi king and crown prince and Saudi foreign policy, calling for the release of detained clerics and protesting the rise in prices. He is not charged with any violent crime.
His brother, Dr Saeed bin Nasser al Ghamdi, an mullah and government critic, lives in self-imposed exile in the UK and believes Mohammad has been sentenced to death in retaliation for his activism.
“The Saudi authorities have asked me several times to return to Saudi Arabia, but I have refused. It is very likely that this death sentence imposed on my brother is revenge for my activity. Had it not been the case, his charges would not have carried such a severe sentence,” he told Amnesty International.
Saeed bin Nasser al Ghamdi also said that during the interrogation, Mohammad was asked about his political views and views on other Saudi detainees, such as clerics Salman al Awda and Awad al Qarni, detained in 2017, who could be sentenced to death for his political views.
Saudi Arabia must abolish the death penalty in all cases without exception, regardless of the nature of the crime, the characteristics of the convicted person, or the method of execution used by the state to kill them.
“The death penalty is a violation of the right to life and the highest exponent of cruel, inhuman and degrading punishment. And, in the case of Mohammad bin Nasser al Ghamdi, the sentence looks like a vindictive punishment not only against him, but also as retaliation for the actions of at least one more politically open relative,” Philip Luther concluded.
Additional information
Over the past two years, Amnesty International has documented an escalation in Saudi Arabia’s crackdown on those who use social media and the internet to express their views. In 2022 alone, Amnesty International documented the cases of 15 people sentenced to between 10 and 45 years in prison solely for carrying out peaceful activities online, including the longest prison sentence believed to have ever been imposed on a woman. Saudi Arabia for peaceful expression on the Internet.
To prosecute these individuals, the Specialized Criminal Court has resorted to vague provisions in cybercrime and anti-terrorism law that equate peaceful expression and activity on the Internet with “terrorism”.
Saudi Arabia is one of the world’s leading executioners. In 2022, it executed 196 people, the highest annual number of executions recorded by Amnesty International in the country in the last 30 years, 3 times the number of executions carried out in 2021 and at least 7 times the number in 2020 .
Amnesty International opposes the death penalty in all cases without exception, regardless of the nature or circumstances of the crime, the characteristics and guilt or innocence of the accused, and the method of execution used by the State. Today, 112 countries have abolished the death penalty for all crimes and, in all, more than two-thirds of the world’s countries are abolitionist in law or practice.
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