Saudi Arabia Releases US Citizen Jailed Over Tweets Against Kingdom
NDTV
Saad Ibrahim Almadi, who also has Saudi citizenship, was arrested in November 2021 when he arrived in Riyadh from Florida to visit his family.
Saudi Arabia has released a US citizen from prison more than a year after convicting him over tweets critical of the kingdom, according to the BBC. Saad Ibrahim Almadi, 72, was initially sentenced in October last year to 16 years in jail for tweets criticising Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman. An appeals court had increased the jail term to 19 years last month, the BBC report further said, adding that the US as well as Saudi authorities have not commented on his release yet.
His son Ibrahim confirmed the news and said Saad Almadi was at a family house in Riyadh. He, however, pointed out that the family needs to now fight a travel ban.
"All charges have been dropped but we have to fight the travel ban now," Ibrahim was quoted as saying by news agency Reuters.
Mr Almadi was found guilty of trying to destabilise the kingdom and also accused of supporting terrorism. The Saudis had imposed a 16-year travel ban on him.
