Retired Saudi teacher sentenced to death over posts should be released, UN says
A former teacher who was sentenced to death by a Saudi court last year over social media posts from accounts with 10 followers is being held arbitrarily and should be released immediately, UN experts have found.
The United Nations Working Group on Arbitrary Detention’s conclusion in the case of Mohammed al-Ghamdi, a retired teacher, comes a little over a month after his brother, Asaad al-Ghamdi, also a teacher, was sentenced to 20 years over his posts on X.
Among their posts were ones critical of Saudi government policies - including the flagship economic programme Vision 2030 - unemployment, inflation, and mismanagement of resources. Some called for the release of political prisoners. Others mourned those who died in prison.
Their brother, Saeed Nasser al-Ghamdi, a prominent religious scholar and Saudi Arabian opposition figure living in London, said on Friday that he welcomed the UN's findings.
"However, the most important thing remains to ensure its implementation by the Saudi government which has a history of defying international law," Saeed Nasser al-Ghamdi said in a statement.
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The brothers are among a growing group of Saudi Arabians who have been arrested and handed severe sentences over social media posts critical of government policies over the past three years.
The working group noted that, over its 30-year history, it had found Saudi Arabia in violation of international human rights obligations 75 times and voiced concern that this indicated a systematic problem with arbitrary detention in the kingdom.
"Widespread or systematic imprisonment or other severe deprivation of liberty in violation of the rules of international law may constitute a crime against humanity," the group wrote.
Haydee Dijkstal, a barrister at the UK-based 33 Bedford Row Chambers who is representing the brothers, said their detentions and convictions "demonstrates a bold and wilful continuation and escalation of the reported repression in Saudi Arabia against free speech and expression".
'Bad laws'
Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman acknowledged in an interview with Fox News last September that Mohammed al-Ghamdi had been a victim of "bad laws", which he said should be changed.
"Shamefully, it's true," the crown prince said of Ghamdi's death sentence. "It's something I don't like."
However, rights advocates quickly pointed out that the counterterrorism law under which Ghamdi was tried was part of sweeping reforms the crown prince instigated when he rose to power.
Samer al-Shumrani, operations manager with the UK-based human rights organisation, Sanad, said on Friday that nothing had changed since the Fox News interview.
"It's even worse," he told Middle East Eye, pointing to the subsequent sentencing of Asaad al-Ghamdi.
Saudi Arabia told the working group that Mohammed al-Ghamdi was guilty of inciting sedition, spreading chaos, and disrupting public security.
According to the working group, the Saudi government argued that "while free speech is protected in Saudi Arabia, Mr Al-Ghamdi's actions constituted terrorist acts".
The Saudi government also underlined that the 2017 counter-terrorism law, under which the brothers have been convicted and which has been widely criticised by human rights groups, is aligned with the UN Global Counter-Terrorism Strategy.
Saeed al-Ghamdi said he believes his brothers have been targeted as a result of his activism.
"Saudi authorities asked me several times to return to Saudi Arabia, but I refused to do so," he said.
"It is very probable that these sentences against my brothers are in retaliation for my activity. Otherwise, his charges wouldn't have carried such a severe penalty."
The Saudi foreign ministry has been contacted for comment.
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