Execution for tweet in Saudi Arabia provides fresh perspective on how good America has it.
By Tre Goins Phillips, The Blaze:
Saudia Arabia’s religious police are executing Ahmad al-Shamri. His crime: Posting comments on Twitter critical of the Prophet Muhammad.
The authorities were tipped off about al-Shamri’s tweets and went on to arrest him some time in 2014, the Washington Post reported. Activists said he was accused of sharing disparaging comments about Islam and Muhammad, and was charged with apostasy and sentenced to death.
Those with the Human Rights Watch, though, believe al-Shamri, who is in his 20s, was probably unstable when he posted the criticisms to Twitter, given he posted the remarks in a country where it’s abundantly clear that making such public statements could result in death.
According to Human Rights Watch adviser Hala Dosari, who has been following the case since 2014, the Saudi man pleaded insanity and claimed to be drunk, high, and in an altered state when he posted the disparaging comments to social media.
None of that matters, though, Dosari said, because the trial has given very little attention to al-Shamri’s mental state. Instead, the case has focused almost entirely on Koranic law, resulting in al-Shamri being sentenced to execution for being an atheist.
“The conservative religious folks have full control of the justice system,” Human Rights Watch researcher Adam Coogle told the Post. “Judges come from religious seminaries in Saudi Arabia. They see themselves as preservers of Saudi Arabia’s character as an Islamic state.”
“And they come down hard on people who step out of line,” he added, noting that most of the Middle Eastern country’s cases are based on Koranic law — not a penal code.
Coogle said prosecutors have free rein “not only to decide cases, but what constitutes a criminal offense in the first place. Sometimes it is just a description of your behavior.”
As for al-Shamri’s case specifically, there have been mixed responses on Twitter.
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