A court in Saudi Arabia has sentenced to death the brother of an exiled dissident, convicting him of disloyalty to the kingdom’s rulers in a case built around anonymous social media accounts where he shared criticism of the government.
The defendant, Mohammed bin Nasser al-Ghamdi, a 54-year-old retired teacher, had almost no public profile before he was arrested last year and accused of treason. One of the main social media accounts cited in his court case, on the platform X — formerly known as Twitter — has eight followers.
The sentence, which was handed down in July, was also based on a confession attributed to Mr. al-Ghamdi after his arrest, in which he said he viewed the king and crown prince as “tyrants” and “agents of the West” who were fighting against Islam, according to court documents reviewed by The New York Times. » | Vivian Nereim * | Sunday, September 3, 2023
* This article is based on court documents reviewed by Vivian Nereim, who reported from Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.
