Saudi man gets 10 years in prison, 2,000 lashes over atheist tweets
| Publisher | Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty |
| Publication Date | 27 February 2016 |
| Cite as | Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, Saudi man gets 10 years in prison, 2,000 lashes over atheist tweets, 27 February 2016, available at: https://www.refworld.org/docid/570cdf7d1d.html [accessed 31 May 2023] |
| Disclaimer | This is not a UNHCR publication. UNHCR is not responsible for, nor does it necessarily endorse, its content. Any views expressed are solely those of the author or publisher and do not necessarily reflect those of UNHCR, the United Nations or its Member States. |
February 27, 2016
A court in Saudi Arabia has sentenced a man to 10 years in prison and 2,000 lashes for expressing his atheism in hundreds of Twitter posts.
The online daily Al-Watan said on February 27 that religious police in charge of monitoring social networks found more than 600 tweets denying the existence of God, and ridiculing verses of the Koran.
It says the 28-year-old man admitted to being an atheist and refused to repent, saying that what he wrote reflected his own beliefs and that he had the right to express them. The report did not name the man.
The court also fined him 20,000 riyals, about $5,300.
Based on reporting by AP
Link to original story on RFE/RL website
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