Who is Awad al-Qarni, Saudi man who may get death penalty over WhatsApp, Twitter use?
Dr Awad al-Qarni was arrested back in 2017. His alleged crimes reportedly include having a Twitter account.
Awad al-Qarni is in danger of being executed over social media use. A prominent academic and cleric in Saudi Arabia, al-Qarni is a law professor who was arrested back in 2017. Prosecutors in the Gulf country are now seeking the death penalty for al-Qarni, UK news outlet The Guardian recently reported.
Al-Qarni is a prominent activist in Saudi Arabia. He raises his voice for reforms and issues like reconciliation of Arab countries with Qatar. As per court documents accessed by the UK outlet, the 65-year-old law professor’s alleged crimes include using WhatsApp to share news “hostile” to Saudi Arabia, as well as having a Twitter account. The court is yet to give out a verdict on the punishment sought.
The academic had a huge following on social media with reportedly 2.2 million followers on Twitter. He used to work at the King Khalid University in his hometown Abha and Imam Mohammad Ibn Saud Islamic University in Riyadh. In 2017, he was arrested from his hometown which lies in Southern Saudi Arabia.
He has reportedly authored many books including on the Palestinian conflict as well as Islam. He is also a neuro-linguistic programming trainer. His son Nasser fled to the UK from where he is seeking asylum and fighting for his father’s freedom.
Opinion on al-Qarni is divided with some regarding him as a well-known intellectual, others denouncing him as a dissident of the kingdom and a preacher who is dangerous. The law professor admitted to using social media under his own name and participating in a WhatsApp chat.
Use of social media platforms like WhatsApp and Twitter is prohibited in Saudi in some cases. A PhD student and mother of two received a 34-year prison sentence recently for retweeting an activist’s posts. Meanwhile, the Saudi government and its sovereign wealth fund are reported to have been upping investments in social media giants like Twitter and Facebook, WhatsApp-owner Meta.