Retired Saudi Teacher Jailed For 30-Yrs For Criticising Govt On Social Media

A court in Saudi Arabia sentenced a retired teacher to 30 years' jail for criticising the government on social media, his brother said on Tuesday. This comes less than two months after his death sentence was overturned. The former teacher was identified as Mohammed al-Ghamdi. His death sentence highlighted what critics describe as heightened repression under Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, the Gulf kingdom's de facto ruler.

In an interview to Fox News that aired in September 2023, Prince Mohammed addressed the case, saying the government was "ashamed" over it and expressing hope the outcome could be changed.

Ghamdi's death sentence was overturned on appeal in August. But the appeals court sentenced him to 30 years imprisonment on the same charges, his brother Saeed al-Ghamdi, an Islamic scholar who lives in Britain, told AFP.

In July 2023, Mohammed al-Ghamdi had been sentenced to death by the Specialised Criminal Court, which was set up in 2008 to deal with terrorism-related cases. The former teacher, who is in his 50s, was arrested in June 2022.

The case against him was at least partly built on posts criticising the government and expressing support for "prisoners of conscience" like the jailed religious clerics Salman al-Awda and Awad al-Qarni, his brother has previously said, according to AFP.

After the legal troubles came to light last year, the Gulf Centre for Human Rights said his account on social media platform X had only nine followers.

The charges he faced included conspiracy against the Saudi leadership, undermining state institutions, and supporting terrorist ideology, sources briefed AFP on the details said at the time.

"This about-face in judgements testifies to the dramatic state of the kingdom's politicised judicial system," Saeed al-Ghamdi said on X. "My brother is not guilty to be arrested and tried in this way," he further stated.

The Saudi authorities, however, could not immediately be reached for comment.

Last month, Human Rights Watch and Saeed al-Ghamdi reported that another brother, 47-year-old Asaad al-Ghamdi, had been sentenced to 20 years over critical social media posts.

There was no word on Tuesday on whether judges would also review Asaad al-Ghamdi's sentence.

(With AFP Inputs)