Saudi Arabia's Specialized Criminal Court (SCC) in Riyadh on Jan. 23 handed down a seven-year sentence as well as numerous other punitive measures for a Twitter post the court deemed insulting to the ruling al-Saud family [6]. The SCC, which was established in 2008 to try cases linked to terrorist activity, concluded [7] that the defendant had a connection with two terror groups and was producing online materials that threatened the country's security. Human Rights Watch [8], which has been calling for the abolition of the SCC since 2012 [9], has previously commented on the court being increasingly used to silence peaceful dissenters [10], human rights activists [11], attorneys [12] and opposition clerics [13].
From Jurist [14], Jan. 23. Used with permission.
