Twitter-sphere explodes over death sentence for Saudi atheist

Shamri had renounced Islam and expressed his views on social media leading to his arrest in 2014


News Desk April 27, 2017
PHOTO:AFP

A young man has reportedly been sentenced to death for apostasy in Saudi Arabia, resulting in an overwhelming response in the twitter-sphere, with many users expressing their sorrow and some supportive of the move.
Ahmad al Shamri, a man in his early 20s who lived in the city of Hafr al Batin, has spent the past three years in prison over charges of "atheism and blasphemy", according to The Independent.
Shamri had renounced Islam and expressed his views on social media, leading to his arrest in 2014 and eventually sentenced to death in February 2015. His appeal against the sentence was denied earlier this week.

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Shamri had appealed to the court but his appeal was dismissed, the rejection of which lead to both angered and supportive social media users. The Arabic hashtag trending translated into “apostate from Hafar al Batin". A twitter user translated posts to increase awareness of users' reactions which were divided in favour of and against him being sentenced to the death penalty.

Various users condemned Saudi Arabia, pointing out the fact that it is part of the United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHRC). Along with its UNHRC membership, on Sunday Saudi Arabia was also appointed to the UN Commission on the Status of Women.

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