An American citizen was reportedly caught in Saudi Arabia, tortured, and sentenced to 16 years in prison for tweets he posted while in the U.S.
The State Department verified the detention of Saad Ibrahim Almadi, a U.S. citizen of Saudi ancestry, and stated that the U.S. raised his case beginning in December and as late as Monday.
Almadi, a 72-year-old retired project manager from Florida, was arrested in November while visiting family in the kingdom and convicted earlier this month, according to his son Ibrahim, confirming circumstances first published by the Washington Post. Almadi is a dual citizen of Saudi Arabia and the United States.
The son informed the newspaper that his father had only "mild" sentiments on corruption in Saudi Arabia and the execution of Jamal Khashoggi, the U.S.-based columnist who was dismembered in 2018 after being lured into the kingdom's Istanbul consulate. Almadi was charged with aiding and funding terrorists, as well as attempting to destabilize the kingdom.
Based on the State Department, no U.S. representation was present in the sentence since Saudi Arabia originally scheduled the hearing for a later date before bringing it up. "We did not hear back from the Saudi government until after the October 3 date," Patel added, without confirming the decision's details.
The assassination of Khashoggi, who worked for The Washington Post, sparked outrage in Washington, despite the fact that then-President Donald Trump boasted about sparing the strong crown prince, Mohammed Bin Salman, from serious consequences.
President Joe Biden declassified data indicating that the crown prince ordered the assassination and vowed to be harder, including on Saudi Arabia's lethal offensive in Yemen. Nonetheless, Biden traveled to Saudi Arabia in July and was photographed fist-bumping with the crown prince on a trip perceived as seeking the kingdom's assistance in lowering petrol prices by pumping more oil.
However, OPEC+, led by Saudi Arabia, announced a large drop in output on Oct. 5, right before the U.S. midterm elections, infuriating Biden, who warned of consequences. Saudi Arabia has long been chastised for its human rights record. Raif Badawi, a blogger and rights campaigner, was sentenced to ten years in prison in March and was publicly chastised 50 times for allegations related to content on his website.
A Saudi court recently sentenced a woman to 45 years in prison for allegedly causing harm to the country through her use of social media. In a case that sparked international anger, a Saudi doctorate student at Leeds University in England was sentenced to 34 years in prison for spreading "rumors" and retweeting dissidents.
