Saudi Arabia Sentences Man to Death for Social Media Posts

Riyadh – A critic of alleged corruption and human rights abuses in Saudi Arabia was sentenced to death on Monday. 

The decision was handed down against Mohammed al-Ghamdi in July by the Specialized Criminal Court, which was established in 2008 to try terrorism cases. 

His charges included conspiracy against the Saudi leadership, undermining state institutions, and supporting terrorist ideology, said a source familiar with the details. 

Human rights activists say the case highlights the crackdown on criticism published on social media against the government, even through accounts with few followers. 

Saeed al-Ghamdi, Mohammed's brother and an activist living in exile outside Saudi Arabia, said that his brother's case stems from a post on the X platform. 

Mohammed is known for criticizing the government and expressing support for "prisoners of conscience" such as jailed clerics Salman al-Awda and Awad al-Qarni. 

Mohammed al-Ghamdi's X account has only nine followers, according to the Gulf Center for Human Rights. 

"Saudi courts are stepping up their repression and publicly revealing their empty promises of reform," Head of Monitoring and Communications at human rights group ALQST, Lina al-Hathloul said. 

"How can the world believe that this country is reforming when a citizen will be beheaded for tweeting something obscene?" 

As information, Saudi Arabia is often criticized for its frequent use of the death penalty, executing 147 people last year. In addition, there have been 94 executions so far this year. 

State media reports do not specify how executions are carried out, but beheadings have been common in the past. 

Under the leadership of Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, the de facto ruler of Saudi Arabia, the kingdom has embarked on an ambitious reform agenda known as Vision 2030, which aims to transform the once-reclusive kingdom into a global tourism and business destination. 

However, Saudi authorities continue to criticize the country's human rights record, prompting widespread condemnation last year of the decades-long prison sentences handed down to two women for criticizing the government through social media posts. 

"The political climate is tainted by repression, terror, and arrests just for expressing opinions, even just by tweeting or liking tweets that criticize the government," Saeed al-Ghamdi said.