On the fourth anniversary of the arrest of retired teacher Mohammed Nasser Al-Ghamdi, SANAD renews its call for his release

These days mark the fourth anniversary of the arrest of retired teacher Mohammed Nasser Al-Ghamdi, who was detained in June 2022 over five tweets posted from an anonymous X account, formerly Twitter, followed by fewer than ten people.

In July 2023, the Specialized Criminal Court sentenced Al-Ghamdi to death over those tweets. Following international and human rights pressure, Saudi authorities later overturned the death sentence and replaced it in September 2024 with a 30-year prison term.

This came despite a ruling by the UN Working Group on Arbitrary Detention, which found that Al-Ghamdi’s detention was arbitrary and violated Articles 3, 9, 10, 11, and 19 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, calling for his immediate release and adequate compensation.

SANAD Human Rights Organization previously obtained documented information indicating that Al-Ghamdi was subjected to multiple violations in prison, including medical neglect that led to a serious health episode and the breaking of one of his teeth. He was also denied adequate legal defense, having been assigned a lawyer by the authorities and given insufficient time to prepare his case.

SANAD stated that the continued detention of Mohammed Al-Ghamdi, despite the cancellation of his death sentence and the UN ruling, is further evidence of the politicization of the Saudi judiciary and the lack of genuine judicial independence, particularly within the Specialized Criminal Court, which is widely viewed as a tool for suppressing freedom of expression.

The organization also held Saudi authorities fully responsible for any deterioration in Al-Ghamdi’s health and called for his immediate release, appropriate compensation, and accountability for all those responsible for the violations committed against him.