A rumor hunt operated by the Saudi authorities that could cost the life of a citizen. According to guardian, A prominent pro-reform Saudi Arabian law professor faces the death penalty for his “hostile” comments to the kingdom on platforms including WhatsApp and Twitter.
Since Mohammed Bin Salman came to power almost six years ago, freedoms are increasingly fragile on social networks. Awad Al-Qarni, 65, was arrested in September 2017, marking the beginning of a crackdown on dissent by the crown prince.
Details of the charges were relayed to the British newspaper by his son Nasser, who fled Saudi Arabia last year. He now lives in the UK and has applied for asylum.
The documents also say the academic “admitted” to participating in a WhatsApp chat and was accused of participating in videos praising the Muslim Brotherhood. Al-Qarni’s apparent use of Telegram and the creation of a Telegram account were also included in the allegations.
In the Saudi-controlled media, Awad Al-Qarni has been portrayed as a dangerous preacher, while ruling dissidents portrayed him as a well-regarded leading intellectual with a large following on social media, including two million Twitter followers. .
Waiting for the court’s decision
Although prosecutors have sought the death penalty in this case, the court has yet to endorse this decision.
Salma al-Shehab, a Leeds doctoral student and mother of two, was sentenced to 34 years in prison last year for running a Twitter account and following and retweeting dissidents and activists. Another woman, Noura al-Qahtani, was sentenced to 45 years in prison for using the same social network.
Paradoxically, the kingdom has continued to invest in Facebook and Twitter in recent years, seeking to project an international image of investing in technology.
According to Jeed Basyouni, head of advocacy for the Middle East and North Africa at Reprieve, a human rights group, “it’s totally irreconcilable with all the cases we see, where the attorney general, under the leadership of Mohammed bin Salman, calls for the People get killed for their opinions, tweets or conversations.
“They are not dangerous, they are not calling for the overthrow of the regime,” he told the guardian.
Source: BFM TV
