Speaking to the Guardian from Florida, Ibrahim expressed intense frustration with the US government’s handling of his father’s case. While he was aware of the Saudi crackdown on dissent, Ibrahim said his father felt safe traveling back to Saudi for a short visit, both because of his American citizenship and because he was part of a tribe that was considered well-connected in Saudi society. Ibrahim said his father was simply exercising his freedom of speech when he published critical tweets. His two Twitter accounts show Saad felt at home in America. Saad Almadi’s story was first reported in a column in the Washington Post. According to his son, US officials have confirmed to the family that Almadi has also been tortured. He was convicted of harboring a terrorist ideology and for trying to destabilize the kingdom. In an interview with the Guardian, Almadi’s son, Ibrahim, said Saudi agents kidnapped his father from the airport and held him in a hotel while they searched his phone, which contained photographs of caricatures of Saudi officials, such as a cartoon of a bloated and fat Mohammed bin Salman, the Saudi crown prince.Īlmadi was detained for 11 months without a trial and eventually sentenced to 16 years in prison followed by 16 years house arrest. In Almadi’s case, prosecutors focused on 14 tweets that the American published over a seven-year period while he was living in Florida, including posts that referenced Jamal Khashoggi, the Washington Post columnist who was murdered at the Saudi consulate in Istanbul in 2018. She was arrested and convicted after returning home for a holiday. Salma al-Shehab, a Saudi student living in the UK and attending Leeds University, was sentenced to 34 years in prison for having a Twitter account and following and retweeting dissidents and activists. The case is now the second known incident of a Saudi who was living abroad being arrested upon their return for using social media. Saad Ibrahim Almadi, 72, a dual US-Saudi national, was arrested in November 2021 upon landing in Riyadh for what was supposed to be a two-week stay in his native country for a work and personal trip.
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