The reign of the crown prince Saudi Arabia Prince Mohammed bin Salman (MbS) allegedly sentenced Prince Abdullah bin Faisal Al Saud to 30 years in prison last August.
The Saudi Arabian court initially sentenced Abdullah to 20 years in prison, but a few months ago the sentence was increased by ten years to 30 years in prison.
A royal source revealed that Saudi authorities arrested Abdullah for being caught discussing the detention of his cousin, who is also a prince, with his relatives over the phone. At that time, he was still in the United States.
In 2020, Saudi Arabia suddenly asked Abdullah to return to his hometown. He was asked to study remotely during the pandemic.
Some media claimed that the conversation was taped by Saudi intelligence agencies.
Amnesty International suspects that the Saudis are using Israeli-made spyware, Pegasus, to spy on the royal family and Saudi citizens residing in other countries.
A number of parties have called the government a violation of the individual freedom of its citizens.
Abdullah’s arrest came after the Associated Press released an investigative report containing Saudi court documents.
In the document, the Saudis accused Abdullah of using the Signal app to talk to his mother and relatives to discuss his cousin’s detention.
Abdullah is also accused of using a pay phone in Boston to talk to lawyers about his cousin’s arrest. He is also suspected of sending US $ 9,000 or approximately Rs.141 million to pay his cousin’s bills in Paris.
Since MBS became the de facto leader of Saudi Arabia, there have been numerous arrests including family members, clerics and activists.
MBS does not want to interfere with the policies that have been released, so it does not hesitate to detain or jail anyone.
In response to numerous arrests during the MBS era, numerous human rights monitoring organizations condemned the act.
One of these is from Freedom House. They say the Saudis are targeting critics in 14 countries, including the United States.
Their purpose is to spy on, intimidate or coerce Saudi citizens to return to the kingdom.
“This is disturbing, frightening and a serious violation of protected free speech,” according to Freedom House.
However, the Saudi Arabian Embassy in the United States has denied allegations of targeting and spying on its citizens.
“The idea that the Saudi government or its agencies harasses its citizens abroad is absurd,” according to the Saudi embassy, as quoted by the Associated Press in early November.
In contrast, Saudi diplomatic missions abroad, he said, provide a variety of services.
“Including medical and legal assistance, to any citizen who requires assistance while traveling out of the kingdom,” the statement continues.
(one / bac)
