Saudi Arabia’s judicial system lacks transparency, and court proceedings are often shrouded in secrecy, leaving families and defendants in agonizing limbo. The SCC Appeals Court does not explain its judgements or issue written judgments, and defendants and their lawyers are often not informed promptly of the outcome of their appeal until they repeatedly inquire with court officials, sometimes over several weeks or months

Responding to the news that Saudi Arabia’s Specialized Criminal Court of Appeal quashed the death sentence against 55-year-old retired teacher Mohammad bin Nasser al-Ghamdi, Dana Ahmed, Amnesty International’s Middle East and North Africa Researcher, said:

“Mohammed bin Nasser al-Ghamdi’s so-called ‘crime’ was expressing his opinions on social media. He should have never been prosecuted let alone sentenced to death in the first place. While quashing his death sentence is a great relief for him and his family, the court must now end his long and painful ordeal by quashing his conviction and ordering his immediate and unconditional release.

“If the Saudi authorities are serious about their stated commitment to human rights reform, they must also immediately and unconditionally release all those detained for peacefully exercising their right to freedom of expression and take effective steps to end the crackdown on dissent and the widespread use of the death penalty.”

Background

According to well-informed sources, the Court of Appeal has yet to impose a new sentence to Mohammad bin Nasser al-Ghamdi, who is now awaiting news about his fate.

Saudi Arabia’s judicial system lacks transparency, and court proceedings are often shrouded in secrecy, leaving families and defendants in agonizing limbo. The SCC Appeals Court does not explain its judgements or issue written judgments, and defendants and their lawyers are often not informed promptly of the outcome of their appeal until they repeatedly inquire with court officials, sometimes over several weeks or months.

The Specialized Criminal Court had convicted and sentenced al-Ghamdi to death on 9 July 2023 on trumped-up terrorism-related charges solely for his online expression on Twitter (now X) and YouTube.

On 29 May 2024, the Specialized Criminal Court sentenced Mohammad al-Ghamdi’s brother, Asaad bin Nasser al-Ghamdi, to 20 years in prison for social media posts criticizing the government. Their other brother, Saeed bin Nasser al-Ghamdi is an Islamic scholar and government critic living in self-imposed exile in the UK.

Amnesty International has documented acts of reprisal against family members of dissidents, activists and human rights defenders in exile, including 40 cases of relatives of activists who found themselves – by no official order or other form of notification – under travel bans, effectively forcibly separating families.

Over the past two years, Amnesty International has documented an escalating crackdown in Saudi Arabia against individuals who voiced their opinions on social media. The Specialized Criminal Court, the country’s notorious counter-terror court, has imposed punishments of imprisonment up to 45 years using vague provisions under anti-cybercrime and counter-terrorism laws.