BEIRUT: A journalist in Saudi Arabia has been sentenced to 12 years in prison for discrediting the kingdom.
On Tuesday, a criminal court in the capital, Riyadh, said the journalist, identified as Wajdi al-Ghazzawi, is guilty of “disobeying the ruler on a television program, inciting sedition…discrediting the kingdom and claiming that terrorism and Al-Qaeda were created by Saudi Arabia.”
The Saudi court also handed Ghazzawi a 20-year travel ban and barred him from appearing in media.
The journalist was also accused of taking money from former Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi, when tension existed between Saudi Arabia and Libya.
This came as Saudi Arabia put into effect a controversial counter-terrorism law that allows Riyadh to prosecute as a terrorist anyone who demands reform, exposes corruption or protests against the kingdoms policies.
A large number of activists, clerics, judges and journalists have been jailed in Saudi Arabia for voicing their opposition to the kingdom’s policies.
Rights groups have repeatedly voiced concern over the Saudi record of punishing journalists and restricting media freedoms.
Human rights groups say there are over 40,000 political prisoners in Saudi Arabia, many of them being held without trial or charges. Trans Asia News
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