Relatives of Detained Saudis Urge ‘Ashamed’ Prince to Act on Cases

DUBAI (AFP) – Relatives of Saudis facing heavy sentences for social media posts are calling on the kingdom’s de facto ruler to take action after he voiced shame over their cases.

In a rare interview with Fox News last week, Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman was asked about Mohammed al-Ghamdi, a retired school teacher sentenced to death in July for posts on X, formerly Twitter, where he had around 10 followers.
Prince Mohammed acknowledged that details of the case described in media reports were “true” and said he disapproved of the judgment.
“We are not happy with that. We are ashamed of that,” he said, blaming “bad laws” he had so far been unable to change.
He also raised the possibility that Ghamdi might be spared death.
“I’m hoping that in the next phase of trials, the judge there is more experienced. And they might look at it totally different,” Prince Mohammed said.
The comments raised hackles among human rights activists who have denounced repression since Prince Mohammed became first in line to the throne six years ago, which they say is intended to stamp out criticism of the government.
Activists have long urged that sentences such as Ghamdi’s be overturned.
Ghamdi’s brother, United Kingdom-based government critic Saeed al-Ghamdi, told AFP this week that Prince Mohammed could change the laws -- and shape the outcomes of individual cases -- if he wanted to.
Saudi Arabia is an absolute monarchy with no elected parliament and does not allow political opposition.
Judges are appointed by royal orders.
“Everything is in the hands of the crown prince,” Saeed al-Ghamdi said.
“Since he discovered that there are judicial rulings he is ashamed of, he has the opportunity to cancel them.”
He added: “I hope that there will be a real retreat, not only in reversing the death sentence, but in releasing him and (people caught up in) all similar cases.”
Ghamdi was tried under a counterterrorism law passed in 2017, the same year Prince Mohammed became crown prince.
At the time, Human Rights Watch condemned the law’s “vague definition of terrorism, which could allow authorities to continue to target peaceful criticism.”
Joey Shea, Saudi Arabia researcher for Human Rights Watch, told an online press conference this week that application of the counterterrorism law undermines Prince Mohammed’s claim that Ghamdi’s sentence is the product of old laws that haven’t been changed yet.