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Saudi Arabia INCREASES US citizen’s prison sentence to 19 years in ‘middle finger to Biden’ after he was jailed for series of political tweets
- US citizen Saad Almadi has seen his time behind bars extended from 16 years to 19 years.
- He was jailed after posting several tweets critical of the Saudi government.
- His son Ibrahim said Saudi Arabia’s decision is ‘a middle finger’ for President Biden
The son of a US citizen who was jailed in Saudi Arabia has criticized the Biden administration’s attempts to free his father after his prison sentence was extended by three more years.
Saad Almadi has seen his time behind bars from 16 to 19 years after being jailed for a series of tweets criticizing the Saudi government in 2019.
The political prisoner’s son, Ibrahim, criticized his father’s handling of the case after being told by the US State Department that his father would spend even more time in prison.
He told The Post: ‘It’s not a slap in the face, it’s a middle finger.
‘When the US filed for an appeal, they said, “Here you go, 19 years old!”
Saad Almadi was jailed after posting a series of tweets criticizing the Saudi government
The son of the political prisoner has criticized the efforts of the Biden administration to free his father. In the photo, President Biden, on the left, with Saudi Crown Prince Mohammad bin Salman, on the right.
She noted that her father has lost “more than 80 pounds” behind bars, after an arrest sparked when he attacked the Saudi regime in a series of tweets.
The White House has made several comments criticizing Almadi’s deal, though Biden has not commented directly on the matter.
Ibrahim pointed to the recent release of Brittney Griner while criticizing the Biden administration’s efforts to free her father.
In particular, he criticized the State Department’s refusal to officially condemn Almadi’s case as “wrongly detained,” a move that would increase pressure on the Saudi government to release him from prison.
‘The only way for my father to get out is through ‘wrongful arrest,’ he said.
‘That is how [WNBA star] Brittney Griner came out…. that’s what works with dictators.
The White House says it has taken steps to free Almadi, and at a White House news conference on October 19, press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said his case was a “priority” for the administration.
“The Saudi government understands the priority we give to resolving this matter,” he said.
‘The exercise of freedom of expression should never be criminalized’.
A week after Jean-Pierre’s remarks, National Security Council spokesman John Kirby reiterated the US government’s position.
He told reporters: ‘We respect, understand and stand in solidarity with (Almadi’s family)’s anguish. We continue to work on these cases around the world, as much as we can.’
The prisoner’s son has suggested that the US government has taken too soft a stance against the Saudi government to secure his father’s release.
He said: ‘Using a carrot doesn’t work with (Saudi Crown Prince Mohammad bin Salman), it only works with a stick.’