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Democratic members Chris Murphy, Patrick Leahy, Bob Menendez, Chris Van Hollen and Ron Wyden in the United States Congress issued a joint statement in which they said they were “dismayed” by the punishment imposed on Fitaihi on politically motivated charges.
In the statement, Democratic members have called for Fitaihi’s release since 2017, saying: “Unfortunately, the Saudi government ignored these calls, despite their obvious potential consequences on US-Saudi relations.” shared his statement.
“INSULTING THE UNITED STATES”
The Editorial Board of the Washington Post newspaper published an article criticizing Fitaihi’s six-year prison sentence by the Saudi court.
The article noted that the Saudi administration was protected by US President Donald Trump, from the assassination of journalist Jamal Khashoggi, who was assassinated at the Consulate General of Saudi Arabia in Istanbul, to the human drama he caused in Yemen, and He said: “In response, Fitaihi was sentenced to 6 years in prison.” statements were made.
“The prison sentence handed down to Dr. Fitaihi is both an injustice and an insult to the United States and should not go unanswered,” the article considered that the jail order was a setback for the Saudi regime before it took over the government of Trump and a direct challenge to the government of President-elect Joe Biden. a comment was made.
On the other hand, the Human Rights Organization (HRW) condemned the imprisonment of Fitaihi and published a statement: “The punishment imposed on Fitaihi shows that the pressure from the Saudi government for peaceful criticism will continue.” It was evaluated.
WHAT HAPPENED?
Educated at Harvard University and a US citizen, Dr. Walid Fitaihi was allegedly detained as part of “corruption operations” launched in the country by Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman in November 2017 and tortured at the hotel Ritz Cartlon from Riyadh.
While Fitaihi, 56, was accused of being a U.S. citizen without permission from the Saudi authorities, the main reason was that he had millions of followers on social media and rarely shared support for free speech and the Arab Spring in the country.
During the two visits by US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo to Saudi Arabia this year, the Fitaihi incident was put on the agenda, the Saudi administration was asked to release Fitaihi and give his family permission to travel to the United States.
Fitaihi was sentenced to 6 years in prison by the Saudi court on Tuesday.
