Dubai –
A Saudi court’s decision to sentence fitness influencer Manahel al-Otaibi to 11 years in prison highlights what activists describe as a fierce crackdown on even vaguely critical online speech.
Over the past two years, the Saudi judiciary has convicted “dozens of individuals and imposed lengthy prison sentences for their statements on social media,” human rights groups Amnesty International and ALQST said in a joint statement on Tuesday.
These cases are generally handled by the Specialized Criminal Court, which was established in 2008 to try terrorism suspects, and Saudi authorities do not often comment on them.
