A Saudi court’s decision to sentence fitness influencer Manahel al-Otaibi to 11 years in prison highlights what activists describe as a fierce crackdown on even vaguely critical online speech.
In the past two years the Saudi judiciary has “convicted and handed down lengthy prison terms on dozens of individuals for their expression on social media”, the human rights groups Amnesty International and ALQST said in a joint statement on Tuesday.
These cases are generally handled by the Specialised Criminal Court, which was established in 2008 to try suspects accused of terrorism, and Saudi authorities do not often comment on them.
Here are some of the most high-profile recent examples:
– Nourah al-Qahtani –
A mother-of-five, Qahtani was arrested in July 2021 largely in connection with critical posts on Twitter, since rebranded as X, according to a sentencing document provided by Democracy for the Arab World Now (DAWN), a Washington-based rights group.
She initially received a prison sentence of six-and-a-half years, however prosecutors appealed for a harsher sentence and got their wish: a 45-year term issued in mid-2022.
Qahtani’s Twitter account, as identified in the sentencing document, features numerous posts criticising the government and others warning of attempts to arrest those behind public protests, which are not tolerated in Saudi Arabia.
The court found Qahtani had used Twitter “to challenge the religion and justice” of King Salman and Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, the kingdom’s 38-year-old de facto ruler, according to the sentencing document.
It also says she incited “the activities of those who seek to disturb public order and destabilise the security of society and the stability of the state” by “publishing false and malicious tweets”.
Qahtani did not have a large public profile and it is not clear how her anonymous Twitter account, which has fewer than 600 followers, attracted the attention of Saudi authorities.
– Salma al-Shehab –
A member of Sunni-ruled Saudi Arabia’s Shiite minority, Shehab had been studying for a doctorate in Britain and was arrested in January 2021 while visiting on holiday.
Source : https://www.yahoo.com/news/tweets-terrorism-saudis-jailed-online-124628450.html