An opponent of power in Saudi Arabia has been sentenced to death for denouncing corruption and alleged human rights abuses on social media, his brother and sources close to the case told AFP on Monday.
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Mohammed al-Ghamdi was indicted in July by the Special Criminal Court, a court set up in 2008 to hear terrorism-related cases but also frequently used to try political dissidents and human rights activists.
Charges leveled against him included conspiring against Saudi leaders, undermining state institutions and supporting terrorist ideologies, according to sources familiar with the case.
Kingdom authorities did not respond to requests for comment.
According to Saeed al-Ghamdi, Muhammad’s brother and activist in exile, the case was based at least in part on messages published on the social network X (ex-Twitter) in which he criticized the government and expressed his support for “prisoners of conscience”. . , like the clerics Salman al-Awda and Awad al-Qarni.
However, according to the Gulf Center for Human Rights, Mohammed al-Ghamdi’s account on X only had nine subscribers.
“Saudi courts are stepping up their repression and lifting the veil on their false promises of reform,” responded Lina al-Hathloul, communications manager at London-based human rights group ALQST.
“How can the world believe that the country is reforming when a citizen has his head cut off for tweeting on an anonymous account with fewer than 10 subscribers?” she asked.
The wealthy Gulf monarchy is one of the countries with the highest death penalty. According to an AFP tally, about 147 people were executed there in 2022, up from 94 since the beginning of this year.
State media do not provide information on the method of execution, although beheadings have been common in the past.
Under its powerful Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, Saudi Arabia has embarked on an ambitious reform program aimed at transforming the ultra-conservative kingdom into a global business and tourism destination.
But the country is often criticized for its human rights record, especially after two women who posted critical messages on social media were sentenced to harsh prison terms last year.
The political climate is “polluted with repression, terror and political arrests simply for expressing an opinion, even if you tweet or like critical tweets,” said Saeed al-Ghamdi.