Amnesty calls on Saudi authorities to release retired teacher after death sentence quashed

Amnesty International has called on Saudi authorities to release 55-year-old retired teacher Mohammed bin Nasser al-Ghamdi after his death sentence was quashed by a criminal court.

In a statement on Friday, the UK-based rights group said that the court of appeal was yet to impose a new sentence despite the ruling, adding that al-Ghamdi was now awaiting news about his fate.

The retired teacher was convicted and sentenced to death on 9 July 2023, on "trumped-up" terror-related charges over online expression he shared on social media platforms.

"Mohammed bin Nasser al-Ghamdi’s so-called 'crime' was expressing his opinions on social media," Dana Ahmed, Amnesty's MENA research said.

"He should have never been prosecuted let alone sentenced to death in the first place," Ahmed said, adding: "While quashing his death sentence is a great relief for him and his family, the court must now end his long and painful ordeal by quashing his conviction and ordering his immediate and unconditional release."

Ahmed called on Saudi authorities to demonstrate their commitment to human rights reforms and end the widespread use of the death penalty to suppress freedom of expression.

"If the Saudi authorities are serious about their stated commitment to human rights reform, they must also immediately and unconditionally release all those detained for peacefully exercising their right to freedom of expression and take effective steps to end the crackdown on dissent and the widespread use of the death penalty," he said.

In May, Saudi's specialised criminal court sentenced al-Ghamdi's brother, Assad bin Nasser al-Ghamdi, to 20 years in prison over social media posts deemed critical of the government.

Their other brother, Saeed bin Nasser al-Ghamdi, is an Islamic scholar and government critic living in self-imposed exile in the UK.

Amnesty said it had noted instances of retaliation against members of families of dissidents, activists, and human rights defenders living in exile, including 40 cases where relatives of these activists were subjected to travel bans without any official order or notification, effectively forcing families apart.

The rights group also documented an increasing crackdown in Saudi Arabia against people who voiced their opinions on social media platforms.

It said that the specialised criminal court, Saudi's notorious counter-terror court, had imposed punishments of up to 45 years in jail using "vague provisions" under the anti-cybercrime and counter-terrorism laws.

In 2023, the authorities executed at least 170 people, including 33 accused of "terrorism-related" crimes. The country had executed more people in 2023 than any other country besides China and Iran, Amnesty International said in its annual report on the death penalty for that year.