Saudi Law Prof. Faces Death Penalty For Using Twitter, WhatsApp

A prominent pro-reform law professor in Saudi Arabia was sentenced to death for alleged crimes including having a Twitter account and using WhatsApp to share news considered “hostile” to the kingdom, according to court documents seen by Stephanie Kirchgaessner of The Guardian.

Photo Insert: Al-Qarni has been portrayed in Saudi-controlled media as a dangerous preacher, but dissidents have said Al-Qarni was an important and well-regarded intellectual with a strong social media following, including 2 million Twitter followers.

The arrest of Awad Al-Qarni, 65, in September 2017 represented the start of a crackdown against dissent by crown prince Mohammed bin Salman. Details of the charges brought against Al-Qarni have now been shared with the Guardian by his son Nasser, who last year fled the kingdom and is living in the UK.

Al-Qarni has been portrayed in Saudi-controlled media as a dangerous preacher, but dissidents have said Al-Qarni was an important and well-regarded intellectual with a strong social media following, including 2 million Twitter followers.

Jeed Basyouni, the head of Middle East and North African advocacy at Reprieve, the human rights group, said Al-Qarni’s case fits into a trend the group has observed of scholars and academics facing the death penalty for tweeting and expressing their views.

Asked about the kingdom’s investment in Facebook and Twitter, Basyouni said: “If it wasn’t so sinister, it would be farcical. It is consistent with how they’re operating under this crown prince.”

Human rights advocates and Saudi dissidents living in exile have warned that Riyadh officials are engaged in a severe crackdown on individuals perceived to be critics of the government.

Last year, Salma al-Shehab, a Leeds doctoral student and mother of two, received a 34-year sentence for having a Twitter account and for following and retweeting dissidents and activists.

Another woman, Noura al-Qahtani, was sentenced to 45 years in prison for using Twitter. Prosecution documents shared by Nasser Al-Qarni show that the use of social media and other communications has been criminalized inside the kingdom since the beginning of Prince Mohammed’s reign.

The Saudi government and state-controlled investors have increased their stake in US social media platforms, including Twitter and Facebook, and entertainment companies such as Disney.

Prince Alwaleed bin Talal, a Saudi investor, is the second-largest investor in Twitter after Elon Musk’s takeover of the social media platform.

The investor was himself detained for 83 days during a so-called anti-corruption purge in 2017. Prince Alwaleed has acknowledged that he was released after he had reached an “understanding” with the kingdom that was “confidential and secret between me and the government.”

Saudi Arabia’s sovereign wealth fund, the Public Investment Fund (PIF), has separately increased its stake in Facebook and Meta, the company that owns Facebook and WhatsApp.

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