Saudi scholar faces potential death penalty over social media use
Prior to being detained, Awadh Al-Qarni was regarded as a high-profile scholar who possessed a wide social media following of 2 million Twitter followers.
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Nasser Al-Qarni, the son of imprisoned academic Awadh Al-Qarni, says he fled Saudi Arabi last year to seek asylum in the UK. (Source: Ryan Gallagher/Bloomberg)
Awad Al-Qarni, a 66-year-old Saudi academic who was arrested in September 2017 as part of a crackdown on critics against the Saudi government, is facing the death penalty for the alleged crime of using Facebook and Twitter to spread the news that is considered "hostile," according to The Guardian who obtained access to court papers.
His son, Nasser, who has fled to the UK in search of asylum, has shared with The Guardian some details of the grim sentence that has yet to be formally agreed upon by prosecutors.
Prior to being detained, Awadh Al-Qarni was regarded as a high-profile Muslim scholar who possessed a wide social media following of 2 million Twitter followers. Following his arrest, he was portrayed as a dangerous preacher by the state-owned Saudi media.
Awad has been in prison for years now without trial or justice and his situation is similar to that of dozens of other scholars and experts.
For instance, Leeds Ph.D. student Salma al-Shehab who is a mother of two received a 34-year sentence for having a Twitter account.
Another woman, Noura al-Qahtani, received a 45 years sentence for the same crime.
Read more: KSA sentences Tunisian doctor to 15 years for reacting to a Tweet
But prosecution papers shown by Awadh's son indicate that the use of social media and other platforms has been outlawed since the start of Prince Mohammed bin Salman's reign.
Over the past few years, the Saudi government and several Saudi investors have increased their purchases of stocks in major US social media platforms such as Twitter and Facebook.
The country's sovereign wealth fund has likewise increased its stake in Meta.
According to court documents, Al-Qarni was charged with using a social media account under his own name (@awadalqarni) and used it "at every opportunity … to express his opinions".
The court papers also say that Al-Qarni confessed to engaging in a group on WhatsApp and was accused of praising the Muslim Brotherhood in video recordings.
The use of Telegram was also mentioned in the charges.
Saudi cleric Awad Al-Qarni has been detained since September 2017 and could face execution for the “crime” of tweeting.
— The Freedom Initiative (@thefreedomi) October 6, 2022
Watch Nasser Al-Qarni, who recently applied for asylum in the UK, describe his father’s harrowing arrest: pic.twitter.com/sTK69GJL4B
Read more: KSA sentences Tunisian doctor to 15 years for reacting to a Tweet
