‘Posts’ land Saudi teacher in jail

Saudi Arabia has sentenced a teacher to 20 years in prison over critical social media posts, Human Rights Watch and the convicted man's brother said Tuesday.

Asaad al-Ghamdi, 47, was arrested in November 2022, in a nighttime raid on his home in the Saudi city of Jeddah, according to HRW.

He was convicted on May 29 by Saudi Arabia's Specialised Criminal Court, which was established in 2008 to try suspects accused of terrorism, the New York-based rights group said.

He was sentenced "to 20 years in prison on charges related to his peaceful social media activity", HRW added, calling it "yet another escalation in the country's ever-worsening crackdown on freedom of expression".

Court documents reviewed by HRW showed that Ghamdi was charged with "challenging the religion and justice of the King and the Crown Prince" and "publishing false and malicious news and rumors".