Prince Abdullah’s case, detailed in Saudi court documents received through The Associated Press, has not been reported further. But this is not isolated. Over the past five years, Saudi surveillance, intimidation and prosecution of Saudis on U. S. soil have intensified as the kingdom ramps up repression under its de facto ruler, Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, according to the FBI, human rights teams and two years of talks with the Saudis. living abroad. Some of the Saudis said FBI agents begged them not to come home.
The Saudi embassy in Washington, responding to an AP query, said: “The concept that the Saudi government, or any of its establishments, is harassing its own citizens is absurd. “
IMMINENT THREAT FROM IRAN TESTS US-SAUDI RELATIONSHIP AFTER OPEC’S DECISION
But the same month Prince Abdullah’s sentence was extended, Saudi Arabia sentenced Saad al-Madi, a 72-year-old Saudi, to life in prison for tweets he posted from his home in Florida. Al Madi was accused and imprisoned during a stopover in the kingdom. In condemning al Madi, the kingdom has parted ways with a long-standing Saudi practice of avoiding the worst punishments for citizens of the United States, its longtime protector of the military.
Also in August, it sentenced a 34-year-old Saudi student in Britain, Salma al-Shehab, to 34 years when she too visited the kingdom after tweeting about it.
The three sentences came weeks after President Joe Biden overturned his absolute conviction about Saudi Arabia’s human rights record for stopping in the kingdom, despite complaints from Saudi lawmakers, human rights groups and exiles.
It was a time when the United States urgently needed the kingdom for oil production. But Biden ran out of oil — the Saudis and OPEC cut production — and no improvement in human rights.
Saudi rights advocates say the prisons validate their warnings ahead of the trip: Biden’s attempts to appease the crown prince have emboldened him.
Several authoritarian governments illegally monitor and beat their citizens in the United States, in violation of American sovereignty, in what is known as transnational repression. Many cases pursued across the United States involve rivals, namely China.
Usa. U. S. AND SAUDI ARABIA ON HIGH ALERT FOR INTEL OVER IMMINENT IRANIAN ATTACK: REPORT
But Saudi Arabia’s Prince Mohammed’s moves stand out for their high-tech intensity, orchestration and often ferocity, and for coming from a strategic partner.
Freedom House, a think tank, says Saudi Arabia has targeted critics in 14 countries, adding coordinated attacks directed from the United States. The purpose is to spy on the Saudis and intimidate or force them to return to the kingdom, the organization says.
“It’s disturbing, it’s terrifying and it’s a major violation of freedom of expression,” Freedom House’s Nate Schenkkan said of the recent imprisonment of Western-based Saudis.
Rejecting accusations that it aims to complain abroad, the Saudi embassy said: “On the contrary, our diplomatic missions abroad provide a wide variety of services, including medical and legal assistance, to any citizen seeking assistance when traveling outside the kingdom. “. ” They did not cope with the imprisonment of the Boston-based prince.
The State Department said it was investigating Prince Abdullah’s case. In an email, he called transnational repression in general “a vital factor for human rights and national security” and said he would continue to seek accountability. He did not directly respond to questions about Saudi stocks.
The FBI declined to comment.
Prince Abdullah, 31, comes from one of the branches of the royal circle of relatives most targeted by arrests as critics or perceived rivals since Prince Mohammed consolidated strength under his aging father, King Salman.
A photo of Prince Abdullah’s northeastern undergraduate rite shows him in a gown and cap, clean-shaven, chin raised and radiant.
Friends say Saudi officials arrested Prince Abdullah after his return in 2020, with a price ticket provided through the government, to remotely vet the pandemic.
Saudi courts sentenced him to 20 years in prison and 20 years ban. In August, a Saudi court extended the sentence by 10 years.
U. S. CALLS FOR RELEASE OF U. S. CITIZEN SENTENCED TO 16 YEARS IN SAUDI PRISON IN TWITTER POSTS
Like others it has jailed, adding writers, journalists and lawyers, Saudi Arabia has accused Prince Abdullah of acting to destabilize the kingdom, disrupt social unity and the warring parts of the kingdom.
The kingdom uses terrorism and cybercrime legislation, which applies in cases involving telephone or computer communications, to hand down unusually harsh sentences.
Saudi court documents allege Prince Abdullah used a Signal app on his mobile phone in Boston to communicate with his mother and other relatives of Prince Mohammed’s jailed cousin, and used a pay phone in Boston to communicate with a lawyer about the case. Prince Abdullah has admitted to sending about 9,000 euros ($9,000) to pay for his cousin’s apartment in Paris.
It is unclear how Saudi Arabia monitored personal U. S. conversations. But in recent years, it has perfected old and new espionage tactics.
Human rights teams that developed a citizen complaint app through the Saudi government, and which is still available on Google Play, may have been used to flag al-Madi and al-Shehab’s tweets.
SAUDI PRINCE SENDS THREAT TO WEST AFTER BIDEN WARNS OF CONSEQUENCES FOR KINGDOM
Investigations through the think tank Citizen Lab, the media and Amnesty International have alleged that Saudi Arabia is military-grade Israeli spyware. Amnesty said the spyware was installed on the phone of journalist Jamal Khashoggi’s fiancee before the Saudi government killed him in 2018.
Saudi documents and anecdotal accounts from Saudi exiles describe years of Saudi government workers and student informants tracking perceived subversion through academics in the United States.
For Saudi exiles, “this is a device of repression,” said Khalid al-Jabri, whose once-high-ranking circle of relatives attacked through the crown prince. Saudi assassination squad unsuccessfully sent to kill his father in Canada in 2018.
“They just need you to look over your shoulder. And that’s what I’m doing,” said Danah al-Mayouf, author of a YouTube channel criticizing Saudi officials.
Since at least 2017, the FBI said in a bulletin this year, “Saudi agents backed by the Saudi government and U. S. -based Saudi citizens have monitored, harassed, and threatened critics of the Saudi regime in the United States virtually and in person. “
SAUDI CROWN PRINCE EMPLOYS U. S. GENERALS TO RETIRE, AMIRIALS AT HIGH-PAID CONCERTS: REPORT
The federal government under Biden has taken some steps related to transnational repression. This includes increased vigilance and a warning to embassies in Washington.
Federal prosecutors brought to the United States two of the first cases of espionage and harassment of Saudi citizens.
In August, a federal jury in San Francisco convicted a former Twitter worker who prosecutors say accessed personal knowledge of Twitter users, adding criticism of the Saudi government.
A federal court in New York is ending a case opposing a Saudi citizen paid through the Saudi government living in Mississippi. land” and “Do you think you’re safe?” according to federal authorities.
Al Husayen’s lawyers informed the court last week that he intended to plead guilty to mendacity to FBI agents. In one action, the lawyers asked the government to abandon further investigation.
CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP
In interviews, many Saudis in the United States described meeting with FBI agents out of concern or suspicion of being harassed. Four Saudis said the FBI had unofficially begged them not to go to Saudi Arabia or enter the Saudi embassy. Two said FBI agents informed them they were on a Saudi retaliation list. They spoke on condition of anonymity for fear of reprisals.
Saudi dissidents and defenders say the U. S. it is doing enough to assure exiles or Prince Mohammed that Washington will act when Saudi Arabia files a complaint with the US. U. S. They describe a life in America marked by suspicious interactions with Saudi officials, strangers and acquaintances, online abuse, and fears of speaking blatantly on unencrypted apps. Khashoggi’s killing at the Saudi consulate in Istanbul destroyed floor rules for a long time between Saudi rulers and the ruled.
“It’s targeting more people and, yes, nothing is happening,” said Bethany al-Haidari, a researcher at the Washington-based Middle East Freedom for Political Prisoners Initiative.
“You know, if you can get away with it, what else?”al-Haidari asked.