Saudi Arabia releases Saad Ibrahim , US national from prison
The son of a US citizen who was imprisoned in Saudi Arabia for tweeting criticism about the country’s government has stated that his father has been released from prison, but is still prohibited from traveling. The individual, Saad Ibrahim Almadi, was initially sentenced to 16 years in jail by a criminal court in 2022, but his sentence was extended to 19 years by an appeals court last month.
His son, Ibrahim, has now said that his father was at his home in the Saudi capital, Riyadh, with his family.
“All charges have been dropped but we have to fight the travel ban now,” Ibrahim said.
Neither Saudi nor US officials immediately confirmed Almadi’s release.
Almadi, a dual US-Saudi national who had been living in retirement in Florida, was arrested after landing in Riyadh in November 2021 on several charges, including funding “terrorism” and working to destabilise the kingdom.
His case, along with those of other US citizens who remain under a travel ban in Saudi Arabia, had added to an already strained relationship between the two traditional allies.