The White House confirmed, on Monday, that the US administration had contacted the Saudi authorities regarding the ruling issued against the American citizen, Saad Ibrahim Al-Madi.
Al-Madhi was sentenced to 16 years in prison in October 2022, due to his Twitter posts criticizing the Saudi government.
To Saudi-American citizen Saad Ibrahim Al-Madhi, who was sentenced to 16 years in prison in October for his Twitter posts criticizing the Saudi government.
The Washington Post reported in October that Al-Madhi was accused of “espousing a terrorist ideology, attempting to destabilize the kingdom, and supporting and financing terrorism.”
The White House spokeswoman, Karen Jean-Pierre, said in a daily briefing, Monday: “We have been monitoring the case related to Mr. Saad Ibrahim Al-Madhi … My colleagues and I from the National Security Council have been in contact with his family, and we have expressed our concern about this issue at high levels in the Saudi government.” This is something that we have been talking about openly, discussed with government officials, and reaffirmed our belief that the exercise of freedom of expression, including through social media, should not be criminalised.”
The White House spokeswoman’s comment came in response to a question posed by a journalist during the statement, requesting comment regarding reports indicating that the US State Department had informed Al-Madi’s family that the request to appeal the verdict against Al-Madi resulted in an extension of the sentence of three years, meaning that he would serve a government of 19 years in prison, according to what was said. moved himNew York PostThis past February.
