Saudi Arabia slammed for death penalty for social media posts

Muhammad al-Ghamdi was convicted for allegedly committing crimes against the King and the Crown Prince with online posts

A global rights group has called on Saudi Arabia to quash a court verdict on a man who was sentenced to death for his activity on X, formally Twitter, and YouTube, terming it an escalation of the government’s crackdown on freedom of expression and peaceful political dissent in the country.

In a press statement on Aug. 29, Human Rights Watch (HRW) stated the sentencing of Muhammad al-Ghamdi, 54, a retired Saudi teacher, for alleged criminal offenses related solely to his peaceful expression online as “mind-boggling and terrifying.”

“Repression in Saudi Arabia has reached a terrifying new stage when a court can hand down the death penalty for nothing more than peaceful tweets,” said Joey Shea, HRW Saudi Arabia researcher.

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“Saudi authorities have escalated their campaign against all dissent to mind-boggling levels and should reject this travesty of justice,” Shea added.

On June 11 last year, security forces arrested al-Ghamdi in front of his wife and children in the al-Nouriyyah neighborhood of Mecca, HRW reported.

On July 10, a Specialized Criminal Court convicted al-Ghamdi and handed down a death sentence.

The prosecution charged al-Ghamdi under its counter-terrorism law for multiple charges including insulting the Saudi King and Crown Prince.

He was charged under Article 30 of Saudi Arabia’s counterterrorism law for “describing the King or the Crown Prince in a way that undermines religion or justice,” and Article 34 for “supporting a terrorist ideology,” among others.

In addition, he was also charged under article 43 for “communication with a terrorist entity,” and article 44 for publishing false news “with the intention of executing a terrorist crime.”

The trial court accused al-Ghamdi of using his accounts on X and YouTube to commit his “crimes.”

The prosecution’s demand for maximum penalty said that his crimes “targeted the status of the King and the Crown Prince.”

The “magnitude of his actions is amplified by the fact they occurred through a global media platform, necessitating a strict punishment,” the court said in its judgment, the group reported.

Muhammad al-Ghamdi has maintained two accounts on the X with a combined total of 10 followers and less than 1,000 tweets – mostly retweets of prominent critics of the Saudi government, HRW said.

The group pointed out that most of the tweets submitted as evidence against al-Ghamdi were tweets criticizing the Saudi royal family, and at least one calling for the release of Salman al-Awda, a prominent cleric facing a possible death sentence on various vague charges.

Saudi authorities are accused of denying al-Ghamdi a lawyer and he was barred from meeting his family members. He was able to talk to a lawyer just before his court sessions began.

Shea pointed out that unfair trials by the Saudi government were indicative of its incapability to become a more rights-respecting society.

“Saudi authorities are now resorting to online criticism not only with unfair show trials but with the threat of capital punishment,” Shea said.

“It’s difficult to see how the Saudi leadership’s pledges to become a more rights-respecting society are meaningful when a mere critical tweet can lead to a death sentence,” Shea further added.

On Aug. 24, Saeed bin Nasser al-Ghamdi, Muhammad al-Ghamdi’s exiled brother in the UK in a post on X alleged that the move against his brother by the authorities was aimed at coaxing him to return to Saudi.

The “false ruling aims to spite me personally after failed attempts by the investigations to return me to the country,” Saeed said.

HRW alleged that such moves targeting family members of exiled individuals have increased recently in Saudi Arabia.

“Saudi authorities in recent years have increasingly retaliated against the family members of critics and dissidents abroad in an effort to coerce them to return to the country,” the group said.

HRW said al-Ghamdi’s death sentence is the latest and most severe in a series of cases in which Saudi authorities have targeted social media users for peaceful expression online.

“Over the past year, Saudi courts have convicted and imposed decades-long sentences on social media users who criticized the government,” the group alleged.

Last August, Saudi doctoral student Salma al Shehab had her prison sentence increased from six to 34 years, based solely on her activity on X. The sentence was later reduced on appeal to 27 years.

On the same day, Nourah bin Saeed al-Qahtani was sentenced to a 45-year jail term for “using the internet to tear the [country’s] social fabric.”

HRW also criticized the Saudi Arabian justice system which falls short of international human rights standards and still uses capital punishment and makes it nearly impossible for defendants, including those like al-Ghamdi, to receive a fair trial.

On March 12 last year, the country carried out its largest mass execution. Some 41 out of a total of 81 were members of the country’s minority Shia community.

Last November, the United Nations issued a statement raising alarm over a spike in executions in Saudi Arabia after a 21-month unofficial moratorium for drug-related offenses.

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