His son Tuesday said that a 72 year-old American citizen was released by Saudi Arabia after being imprisoned for critical tweets regarding the crown prince and government of Saudi Arabia.
Saad Ibrahim Almadi was a U.S.-Saudi dual national and a retired project manager, who had been in Florida for over a year. He was sentenced to 19+ years.
Ibrahim Almadi, his son, said to NBC News Tuesday morning that his father was innocent of all charges. He was at home in Riyadh, with his family. However, he was prohibited from traveling.
Ibrahim stated that his father considered the United States home and not Saudi Arabia. He also said that he was worried about the health of the elder Almadi.
“He requires immediate medical attention and treatment in the United States. He added that the travel ban was very concerning for this reason. Ibrahim stated that he was positive the family could bring their father home to the U.S. with the help of the State Department.
Almadi was not released by the U.S. government or Saudi authorities.
This case was just one of many human rights violations that were allegedly committed to strain relations between the two countries. They had a public spat over oil supply last year after clashing over the murder of Jamal Khashoggi, a Washington Post columnist.
President Joe Biden stated previously that he raised concerns about Almadi’s imprisonment and other cases during meetings with King Salman, Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, and when he visited Saudi Arabia in August to reset relations
Human rights groups are increasingly concerned about the crackdown by Saudi authorities on dissent since the ascent to the crown prince, a de fact ruler who seeks to modernize and open up the ultraconservative Kingdom.
Almadi’s son claimed that his father was arrested for supporting terrorism shortly after landing in Riyadh, Nov. 2021, to visit family.
His son stated that he was sentenced to 16 year imprisonment by a criminal court in October 2022. A court of appeals increased his sentence to 19-years last month.
Ibrahim claimed that his father was held for several tweets he sent in the past few years.
He said that his father wasn’t an activist, but a private citizen who shared his views on Twitter while he was in the U.S. where freedom of speech and expression are constitutional rights.
According to The Associated Press, Almadi tweeted two things: one remarking on the consolidation of power by the crown prince in the kingdom and another that remarked upon Khashoggi’s death.
Almadi was released one week after his son met State Department representatives. Ibrahim posted on Twitter, “I whistled on Saad[’s] condition.” 14.
He said, “His only hope is to be wrongfully recognized.” He continued, “They assured me that the process was ongoing and freedom should not be criminalized.”
The Freedom Initiative, an American-based human rights group that advocates for the release of prisoners wrongfully held in the Middle East or North Africa, released a statement Tuesday.
Abdullah Alaoudh (the Saudi director of the organization) stated in the statement that while we are relieved Saad Almadi was released, he should never have spent a single day behind bars for innocuous Tweets.
Freedom Initiative reports that at least six Americans are currently held or trapped in Saudi Arabia under politically motivated travel bans.
Alaoudh said that there are too many Saudi detainees who don’t have U.S. citizenship and should be able to draw attention to their cases. Almadi’s release is a sign that US officials can exert strategic pressure to get the release of detainees and lifting travel bans.
