Saudi Arabia Sentences Government Critic to Death for Social Media Posts, Drawing Global Outrage

Saudi Arabia has sentenced Mohammed al-Ghamdi, a government critic, to death for denouncing alleged corruption and human rights abuses on social media. The judgment was passed by the Specialised Criminal Court in July, which was established in 2008 to try terrorism cases. The charges against al-Ghamdi include conspiracy against the Saudi leadership, undermining state institutions, and supporting terrorist ideology.

Human rights activists have condemned the intense crackdown on social media criticism, even from accounts with few followers. Mohammed's brother, Saeed al-Ghamdi, stated that the case against him was partly built on his posts on X (formerly Twitter) criticizing the government and supporting prisoners of conscience. Mohammed's X account had only nine followers. Saudi Arabia has been widely criticized for its frequent use of the death penalty, with 147 executions last year.

Under Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman's leadership, Saudi Arabia has been pursuing an ambitious reform agenda, known as Vision 2030, to transform the previously closed-off kingdom. However, the country's human rights record continues to attract criticism, particularly for long prison sentences given to individuals for social media posts critical of the government. Lina al-Hathloul, head of monitoring and communication for the rights group ALQST, questioned how the world could believe in Saudi Arabia's reforms when a citizen faces execution over tweets on an anonymous account with fewer than ten followers.