Pelosi meets sister of jailed Saudi activist ahead of controversial Biden visit to Riyadh

The US's Speaker of the House of Representatives Nancy Pelosi expressed Congress' intention to continue advocating for human rights in Saudi Arabia, a few weeks ahead of President Joe Biden's planned visit to the kingdom. 

"Congress will continue to (...) advocate for freedom of expression and for human rights in Saudi Arabia and around the world," Pelosi wrote on Twitter after posting a picture with Areej Al-Sadhan, the sister of Saudi aid worker Abdul Rahman Al-Sadhan who was sentenced to twenty years in jail for satirical tweets.

Honored to meet with my constituent @AreejASadhan, whose brother Abdulrahman Al Sadhan was sentenced to 20 years in prison by Saudi Arabian for anonymous, satirical tweets. His family has been denied contact and fear he has been tortured. pic.twitter.com/1R9dX7VvNi

— Nancy Pelosi (@SpeakerPelosi) June 17, 2022

The tweets come weeks ahead of Biden's planned visit to Saudi Arabia and Israel next month, which critics say undermines efforts to ostracise the kingdom's de facto leader after the brutal murder of Jamal Khashoggi.

The trip has been decried by human rights activists and several US lawmakers as a "big mistake" considering Saudi Arabia's dire human rights record, including mass executions and targeted killings.

This will be Biden's first trip to the Middle East as president, and in addition to meetings with individual leaders in all Israel, the West Bank and Saudi Arabia, he will attend a regional Gulf Cooperation Council summit in Jeddah.