Urgent statement
We have continued to follow up on reports and documents that confirmed the Riyadh Specialized Criminal Court’s ruling on July 10, 2023, to sentence Muhammad bin Nasser Al-Ghamdi (54 years old) to death. Al-Ghamdi has been charged with expressing his opinion, criticising the government, and defending prisoners of conscience via social media.
This follows the serious violations that accompanied Mr. Muhammad Al-Ghamdi’s arbitrary arrest on June 11, 2022 by a Saudi State Security unit in front of his home in Makkah, right in front of his family’s eyes. He was forcefully abducted for four months and denied the right to hire a lawyer even weeks before his trial, in addition to not obtaining the essential health care, despite the fact that the prison administration were aware of his chronic psychological and neurological illness.
The case of the detainee, Muhammad Al-Ghamdi, must be taken seriously, as the death sentence for a person based solely on five tweets is thought to be the first of its sort in the country. This confirms the Saudi regime’s authoritarian and brutal stance, and the circle of violations has grown horribly, to the point that the Saudi monarchy has condemned someone to death just for tweeting. In fact, for similar reasons, Saudi Arabia recently sentenced campaigners to imprisonment and a travel ban ranging from 10 to 45 years.
We strongly condemn the punishment imposed on Mr. Mohammed bin Nasser Al-Ghamdi and urge the Saudi government to overturn his conviction and release him immediately and unconditionally. In the meantime, he must be allowed to receive the necessary medical care and to communication with his family
