Among the various grotesque punishments that have become a trademark of Saudi Arabia under Crown Prince Mohamed bin Salman, this one has reached a new level. In July, a 54-year-old retired teacher named Mohammed al-Ghamdi was sentenced to death for sending messages on social media denouncing human rights violations in the kingdom.
The verdict, so harsh you would be forgiven for thinking it was a caricature, was revealed recently by the NGO Al-Qst, which specializes in the defense of Saudi prisoners of conscience, and by the human rights organization Human Rights Watch (HRW).
Until now, the most surreal punishment inflicted by the Saudi judicial system was the sentencing, in August 2022, of a literature professor, Noura al-Qahtani, to 45 years in prison, for criticizing the government on social media and affirming her support for Saudi prisoners of conscience. A few weeks earlier, Salma al-Shehab, a medical student, was sentenced to 34 years’ imprisonment, later reduced to 27 years, for a similar “crime.”
Almost medieval absolutism
“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, researcher at HRW. “Saudi authorities have escalated their campaign against all dissent to mind-boggling levels.”
Like the murder of journalist Jamal Khashoggi in 2018, this verdict epitomizes the contradictions inherent in Mohammed bin Salman’s agenda. The man nicknamed “MBS” intends to open up the kingdom from a morality point of view by granting women the right to drive and fostering tourism. However, in political terms, he seeks to tighten control through an approach reminiscent of almost medieval absolutism.
Mohammed al-Ghamdi’s sentence was handed down on July 10 by Riyadh’s specialized criminal court, which is responsible for cases labeled “terrorism.” This resident of Mecca, previously unknown in opposition circles, was found guilty of “undermining the status of the king and crown prince” and of “supporting a terrorist ideology” on the basis of his activity on X (formerly Twitter) and YouTube. Two platforms where he shared the words of dissidents.
According to HRW’s investigation, the defendant, who was arrested at his home a year earlier, was kept in solitary confinement for four months and was only able to speak to his lawyer shortly before the start of the trial. To justify the unprecedented harshness of their sentence, the magistrates argued that “the magnitude of [al-Ghamdi’s] actions” had been “amplified” by social media. According to HRW, the two Twitter accounts used by this ordinary Saudi had no more than 10 followers.