News - Middle East: A Saudi court has sentenced a retired teacher to death for online posts critical of the ruling family made from an anonymous account with nine followers, according to his brother.

Saeed al-Ghamdi, a renowned UK-based religious scholar, announced in a post on X (formerly Twitter) on Tuesday that his brother Mohammed, 54, was also sentenced for defending detained Saudi scholars who are facing the death penalty.

“The Specialized Criminal Court in Riyadh, headed by Awad Al-Ahmari, sentenced my brother to death following 5 tweets criticizing corruption and violating human rights,” al-Ghamdi wrote.

He added that his brother was also sentenced for “defending detained Saudi scholars Awad al-Qarni, Salman al-Odeh, Ali al-Omari and Safar al-Hawali during interrogations.”

Qarni, Odeh and Omari have been imprisoned since 2017 and are all facing the death penalty.

“I appeal to everyone who has any ability to help free my brother's neck from the rule of injustice and unfair rulings,” he wrote.

Al-Ghamdi who lives in self-imposed exile in London suggested that the death penalty for his brother was actually intended to spite him after the Saudi government failed to return him to the country.

Source: Press TV