Saudi Arabia freed a 72-year-old American citizen it had imprisoned for more than a year over old tweets critical of the kingdom's crown prince, his son said.
In this photo provided by Ibrahim Almadi, his father, Saad Almadi, sits in a restaurant in an unidentified U.S. location in August 2021.Saudi Arabia on Monday freed a 72-year-old American citizen it had imprisoned for more than a year over old tweets critical of the kingdom's crown prince, his son said.
Saudi officials dropped all charges against the elder Almadi, Ibrahim Almadi and advocates familiar with the case said. But it wasn't immediately clear whether the kingdom would lift a travel ban it had imposed to follow the prison sentence to allow the elder Almadi to return to the United States. and prison sentences and travel bans that Saudi Arabia under the crown prince's tenure has given Saudi rights advocates and perceived rivals and critics of the powerful crown prince.
As U.S. officials worked to win his release and after Mr. Biden traveled to Saudi Arabia last summer in an attempt to improve relations with the oil-rich nation, a Saudi appeals court increased Almadi's prison sentence to 19 years. Abdullah Alaoudh, Saudi director for the Freedom Initiative, a U.S.-based group that advocates for those it considers unjustly detained in the Middle East, said,"We are relieved that Saad Almadi has been released, but he should have never spent a day behind bars for innocuous tweets."
United States Latest News, United States Headlines
Similar News:You can also read news stories similar to this one that we have collected from other news sources.
Saudi Arabia frees American imprisoned over critical tweetsSaudi Arabia on Monday freed an American citizen, a 72-year-old Florida retiree, it had imprisoned for more than a year over his old tweets critical of the kingdom’s crown prince, his son said.
Read more »
Saudi Arabia frees American imprisoned over critical tweetsSaudi Arabia has freed an American imprisoned for more than a year over his old tweets critical of the kingdom's crown prince, his son said. It was not clear if Saad al Madi, 72, of Florida, will be allowed to return to the U.S.
Read more »
Saudi Arabia frees 72-year-old American imprisoned over tweetsSaudi Arabia on Monday freed an American citizen, a 72-year-old Florida retiree, it had imprisoned for more than a year over his old tweets critical of the kingdom’s crown prince, his son said.
Read more »
Saudi Arabia frees American imprisoned over critical tweetsSaudi Arabia on Monday freed an American citizen, a 72-year-old Florida retiree, it had imprisoned for more than a year over his old tweets critical of the kingdom’s crown prince, his son said.
Read more »
Saudi Arabia frees American imprisoned over critical tweetsSaudi Arabia on Monday freed an American citizen, a 72-year-old Florida retiree, it had imprisoned for more than a year over his old tweets critical of the kingdom’s crown prince, his son said.
Read more »
Saudi Arabia frees American imprisoned over critical tweetsSaudi Arabia has freed a Saudi-American citizen it had imprisoned more than a year over his old tweets critical of the kingdom’s crown prince.
Read more »