Saudi aid worker sentenced to 20 years in prison

It is believed that Abdulrahman al-Sadhan has been convicted in connection with operating an anonymous Twitter account that was critical of human rights abuses in Saudi Arabia and the policies of crown prince Mohammed bin Salman

A Saudi terror court sentenced a former Red Crescent employee to 20 years in prison and a two-decade travel ban. He is believed to have been convicted for operating an anonymous Twitter account critical of the Saudi regime.

Abdulrahman al-Sadhan, 37, was arrested in March 2018 from Red Crescent’s Riyadh office without a warrant and was allowed to contact his family for the first time only in 2020. His trial was finally announced last month and in less than a month, the sentence was pronounced. According to Middle East Eye, the exact grounds for Abdulrahman’s conviction have not been revealed.

However, his trial is believed to be related to the anonymous Twitter account from which he used comment on human rights issues in Saudi Arabia. He was also critical of the policies of crown prince Mohammed bin Salman.

Human rights groups and activists called the trial of Abdulrahman a “sham” and demanded his immediate release.

The news of his conviction was announced by his sister, Areej al-Sadhan on her Twitter account on Monday. In February, Areej had reported that Saudi officials had failed to charge him with anything and he would be released soon.

However, on March 10, she said that Abdulrahman will face “a secret trial” in the same court where Loujain al-Hathloul was tried. Loujain was sentenced to jail for nearly six years but part of her sentence was suspended and the time she spent in prison was taken into account, leading to her release.

Saudi Arabia has one of the worst records on freedom of speech and expression. Several people use anonymous Twitter accounts in the country to express their disapproval of government policies due to the fear of persecution.