Saudi Court Jails US Citizen For 16 Years Over Tweets Against Kingdom

The United States said Tuesday it was raising with Saudi Arabia a prison sentence handed to a US citizen over tweets critical of the kingdom, another source of tension between the historic allies.

The United States said, on Tuesday, that it is lifting with Saudi Arabia the prison sentence issued against an American citizen for tweets critical of the kingdom, another source of tension between the two historical allies.

The US State Department confirmed the arrest of Saad Ibrahim Al-Madhi, an American citizen of Saudi origin.

He said the United States presented his case from December through Monday.

His son Ibrahim confirmed to AFP that Al-Emadi had been sentenced to 16 years in prison for his tweets.

"We have consistently and extensively raised our concerns regarding the issue at the highest levels of the Saudi government,

"Through channels in Riyadh and Washington," State Department spokesman Vidant Patel told reporters.

"The exercise of freedom of expression should never be criminalized," he said.

The Washington Post reported that Madhi, who lives in Florida and had gone to visit his family,

He was arrested at the airport in November over 14 tweets he had written over the past seven years.

The newspaper, citing son Ibrahim, said that Al-Madhi, aged 72, was sentenced on 3 October to 16 years in prison with a travel ban for another 16 years after that.

The son told the newspaper that his father expressed only "moderate" views through tweets mentioning corruption in Saudi Arabia and the murder of US-based journalist Jamal Khashoggi, who was dismembered in 2018 after being lured to the kingdom's consulate in Istanbul.

Al-Madi's son said that Al-Emadi was accused in part of supporting and financing terrorism and attempting to destabilize the kingdom.

The State Department said no US representative was present at the ruling because Saudi Arabia had originally set a later date for the hearing before it was adjourned.

"We did not receive any response from the Saudi government until after the October 3 date" of the verdict, Patel said, without confirming the details of the decision.

The murder of Khashoggi, who wrote for The Washington Post, sparked a wave of outrage in Washington, despite President Donald Trump's boasts of saving the powerful crown prince.

Mohammed bin Salman has great repercussions.

President Joe Biden declassified intelligence that showed the crown prince ordered the killing and vowed to get tougher, including about Saudi Arabia's deadly attack in Yemen.

However, in July Biden traveled to Saudi Arabia and was photographed fist-

Meeting with the crown prince on a trip seen as seeking the kingdom's help to lower gas prices by pumping more oil.

But OPEC +, led by Saudi Arabia, announced on October 5 a significant production cut ahead of the US congressional elections, angering Biden, who has vowed consequences.

BY
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