According to a report by BBC, Saad Ibrahim Almadi, a 72-year-old citizen of the United States has been released from prison in Saudi Arabia.
Almadi, who also has Saudi Arabia citizenship, had been in custody for 15 months after being convicted for tweets critical of the Saudi government. His arrest occurred in November 2021 while he was in Riyadh visiting his family. Last year, he was sentenced to 16 years in prison and a 16-year travel ban. However, an appeals court increased his sentence to 19 years just last month.
According to Ibrahim, Almadi’s son, his father is currently at a family residence in Riyadh, but it remains unclear when he will be able to return home to Florida. All charges against him have been dropped, but the family still needs to fight the travel ban.
The Saudi court found Almadi guilty of trying to destabilize the kingdom, supporting and funding terrorism, and failing to report terrorism over tweets that Ibrahim had posted on a separate account. Ibrahim revealed that the only evidence presented in court against his father consisted of 14 tweets, including criticism of the demolition of old parts of the cities of Mecca and Jeddah, concern over poverty in the kingdom, and a reference to the murdered Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi.
Neither the US nor Saudi authorities have commented on Almadi’s release. However, US President Joe Biden had previously raised Almadi’s case, along with those of other US citizens under travel bans in Saudi Arabia, during meetings with King Salman and Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman when he visited last July. Biden had also pushed for more oil supplies and sought help to isolate Russia after it invades Ukraine.
The release of Almadi is a positive development in a country that has been criticized for its human rights record, particularly regarding freedom of speech and political dissent. It is also a significant step towards improving relations between the US and Saudi Arabia, which have been strained following the killing of Khashoggi in 2018.
