On July 10, 2023, the Specialized Criminal Court in Riyadh sentenced Muhammad bin Nasser Al-Ghamdi to death by Taazir, on charges related to his expression of opinion and his use of social media.
The verdict against Al-Ghamdi (September 24, 1968) perpetuates the bloody vengeful trend of Saudi Arabia, as arbitrary sentences, including killing and imprisonment for decades, have intensified in recent years, against the exercising of legitimate rights or non-serious charges. It also confirms the political use of the death penalty that has become apparent since the mass execution in January 2016 and the executions that followed.
The verdict was issued within a period of no more than a month and a half, as the fastest death sentence. The case was referred to court on May 28, 2023, and the verdict was issued on July 10, 2023. This proves the sham trial and deprives him of taking enough time to present a legal defence.
Al-Ghamdi was arrested on June 12, 2022, and he is the brother of cleric Saeed al-Ghamdi, who opposes and criticizes the Saudi government. He was charged with:
- Betrayal of his religion, his country and the rulers, and insulting them and the members of the Council of Senior Scholars and security men
- Challenge the religion and justice of the King and the Crown Prince
- Supporting terrorist ideology and praising terrorist collective symbols by following them and interacting with them on social media
- Spreading false rumours
- Using Twitter and YouTube to carry out the charges against him
The European Saudi Organization for Human Rights indicates that the Public Prosecution based the accusations on two accounts he has on the Twitter platform and a channel on the YouTube platform. The number of followers of his first account on Twitter is 8 and the second is 2, and he has no activity on YouTube to mention. Saudi Arabia uses this method to exaggerate the charges and use the anti-terrorism law, to show that the accused committed serious terrorist acts, to ensure that society does not sympathize.
ESOHR explains that the judges of the Specialized Criminal Court did not care about the defence's indication that the accused suffers from mental and physical disorders and diseases, including psychosis, bipolar disorder, and delusional disorder, which had also been diagnosed by a specialist in Al-Dhaban prison, where Al-Ghamdi is being held.
According to the monitoring of ESOHR, the verdict against Al-Ghamdi raises the number of those threatened with death by Taazir punishment to at least 61, including 8 minors. They face charges that are not considered among the most serious in international law, which are limited to premeditated murder. Ta’zir rulings are at the discretion of judges, and death sentences issued under them depend on a rare and strict interpretation that most Islamic schools do not follow.
This confirms the falsity of Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman's promises. In April 2018, a year after he seized power, he said in an interview with Time magazine: "We have tried to reduce the death penalty, there are some areas that we can change and reduce from execution to life imprisonment. We will not reduce the death penalty by 100%, but we will reduce it significantly." He also refuted his claims on March 3, 2022, in an interview with The Atlantic newspaper, when he said that the death penalty is now "limited to cases in which someone kills another person."
ESOHR believes that the ruling against Al-Ghamdi, in addition to the number of sentences executed since the beginning of 2023, exceeded 92 sentences. The number of executions since King Salman bin Abdulaziz came to power in January 2015 has exceeded 1,100, which clearly reveals the bloody face of Saudi Arabia that it is trying to hide with sports washing and celebrations.