Saudi Arabia releases US national jailed for tweets

    WORLD  21 March 2023 - 14:13

    Saudi authorities have released a US citizen who was sentenced to 19 years in prison last year, the detainee's son said on March 21.

    Saad Ibrahim Almadi, a 72-year-old who holds both Saudi and US passports, was arrested last November over tweets that were critical of the war in Yemen, controversial demolition work in Mecca, and the 2018 murder of journalist Jamal Khashoggi, among other things.

    He had been sentenced to 19 years in prison, DW reports.

    "All charges have been dropped but we have to fight the travel ban now," his son, Ibrahim Almadi, told Reuters news agency. 

    Neither Saudi nor US officials confirmed the family's reports.

    Straining relations

    Almadi is a US citizen of Saudi origin. He had been living in retirement in Florida but was arrested by Saudi authorities after he returned to Riyadh last year.

    The arrest and subsequent imprisonment of Almadi risked further tensions between Washington and Riyadh, two longtime allies that have been at odds over oil output cuts and human rights issues in recent years.

    The US State Department said last year it had "consistently and intensively raised our concerns regarding the case at senior levels of the Saudi government" and that "exercising freedom of expression should never be criminalized."

    Saudis jailed for critical tweets

    Abdullah Alaoudh, Saudi director at the US-based group Freedom Initiative, said Almadi "should have never spent a day behind bars for innocuous tweets."

    However, just last week, Saudi state television showed prisoners who had been sentenced to up to 15 years in prison for posting critical tweets. They are the latest in a long list of political prisoners jailed by the conservative kingdom.

    "There are far too many people in detention in Saudi Arabia who do not have the benefits of US citizenship to draw attention to their cases," Alaoudh said.

    "Almadi's release shows that strategic pressure works, and US officials should continue to press for release of prisoners and lifting of travel bans."

    Caliber.Az

    Subscribe to our Telegram channel


Read also

Greek navy gets new multi-purpose ship PHOTO

28 May 2023 - 23:01

Saudi crown prince turns to "state capitalism" after change in guard Analysis by Financial Times

28 May 2023 - 22:00

Vox: United States' multiple Indo-Pacific strategies explained

28 May 2023 - 21:02

Serbian Defense Minister: Tensions may turn into armed conflict with Kosovo

28 May 2023 - 16:49

AI plus for jobs, but needs "precision regulation": IBM chief

28 May 2023 - 19:00

Egypt files another lawsuit against Netflix’s controversial "Queen Cleopatra"

28 May 2023 - 20:01
ADVERTS
ВИДЕО
Latest news

    Greek navy gets new multi-purpose ship

    PHOTO

    28 May 2023 - 23:01

    Saudi crown prince turns to "state capitalism" after change in guard

    Analysis by Financial Times

    28 May 2023 - 22:00

    Vox: United States' multiple Indo-Pacific strategies explained

    28 May 2023 - 21:02

    Egypt files another lawsuit against Netflix’s controversial "Queen Cleopatra"

    28 May 2023 - 20:01

    AI plus for jobs, but needs "precision regulation": IBM chief

    28 May 2023 - 19:00

    Erdogan urges supporters to "guard ballot boxes"

    28 May 2023 - 18:53

    Azerbaijani president attends groundbreaking ceremonies in liberated Lachin

    PHOTO

    28 May 2023 - 18:47

    Azerbaijani president: No serious obstacles for signing peace deal with Armenia

    FULL SPEECH/UPDATED

    28 May 2023 - 18:33

    Second round of voting in Türkiye's presidential elections ends

    28 May 2023 - 18:16

    Israeli president to visit Azerbaijan soon

    28 May 2023 - 18:14

    Israeli envoy congratulates Azerbaijan on 105th anniversary of independence

    28 May 2023 - 18:05

    Northern Cyprus congratulates Azerbaijan on Independence Day

    PHOTO

    28 May 2023 - 17:58

    Istanbul investigates spreading of disinformation during presidential election

    28 May 2023 - 17:46

    Minister: Turkish people always make right decisions

    28 May 2023 - 17:34

    Latvia says looking forward to developing friendly ties with Azerbaijan

    28 May 2023 - 17:22

    Turkish parliament speaker honours heroes who died for Azerbaijan's independence

    VIDEO

    28 May 2023 - 17:10

    Dutch envoy congratulates Azerbaijan on Independence Day

    28 May 2023 - 16:58

    Serbian Defense Minister: Tensions may turn into armed conflict with Kosovo

    28 May 2023 - 16:49

    Russia intends to open new consulate in Armenia

    28 May 2023 - 16:37

    Turkish Defence Ministry congratulates Azerbaijan on Independence Day

    28 May 2023 - 16:26

    “Pashinyan getting on Moscow's nerves”

    Russian, Kazakh pundits on Caliber.Az

    28 May 2023 - 16:14

    Turkish ruling party MP congratulates Azerbaijan on Independence Day

    28 May 2023 - 16:02

    Zelenskyy proposes imposing 50-year sanctions against Iran

    28 May 2023 - 15:50

    Russian envoy warns Western arms supplies to Ukraine risk escalating war

    28 May 2023 - 15:38

    Elon Musk's Social Security number found in "Tesla files" leaked by whistleblower

    28 May 2023 - 15:26

    North Macedonia keen to develop bilateral ties with Azerbaijan

    28 May 2023 - 15:14

    Saudi Arabia, Russia ties under strain over oil-production cuts

    28 May 2023 - 15:02

    VP: New milestone begins in Türkiye’s history on path to regional stability

    28 May 2023 - 14:53

    UK envoy congratulates Azerbaijan on Independence Day

    28 May 2023 - 14:41

    CNN: Rishi Sunak could still suffer similar fate to Boris Johnson

    28 May 2023 - 14:32

    Kilicdaroglu votes in second round of Türkiye's presidential election

    28 May 2023 - 14:21

    Voter turnout quite high in Turkish elections, says Erdogan

    28 May 2023 - 14:15

    Azerbaijani president attends number of events in Lachin city

    28 May 2023 - 14:15

    Ex-presidential candidate hopes elections to be successful for Turkish people

    28 May 2023 - 14:09

    Armenian opportunistic "cleric" calls for popular rebellion against power

    Pargev the Bandit once again speaks out

    28 May 2023 - 13:57

    About 900 trucks pile up at Poland's border with Ukraine, Belarus

    28 May 2023 - 13:45

    China’s answer to Boeing, Airbus, C919 takes first commercial flight

    28 May 2023 - 13:33

    Erdogan votes in second round of presidential election

    28 May 2023 - 13:26

    Spokesman: Armenia must return detained Azerbaijani soldiers

    28 May 2023 - 13:21

    Turkish CEC head: Voters show high turn out in elections

    28 May 2023 - 13:05

    UN Secretariat circulates letter from West Azerbaijan Community as official document

    28 May 2023 - 12:58

    Turkish FM, Ukrainian envoy congratulate Azerbaijan on Independence Day

    28 May 2023 - 12:46

    New earthquake jolts Türkiye's Kahramanmaras

    28 May 2023 - 12:34

    Turkish FM: Regardless of outcome of elections, democracy to win

    28 May 2023 - 12:23

    Russian leader: Azerbaijan enjoys well-deserved prestige on world stage

    28 May 2023 - 12:11

All news