A Saudi Arabian court on Thursday sentenced a journalist to five years in prison for comments he posted on Twitter, according to Amnesty International.

Amnesty International says Alaa Brinji was convicted of “insulting the rulers,” “inciting public opinion,” “ridiculing Islamic religious figures,” “violating Article 6 of the Anti-Cyber Crime Law” and “accusing security officers of killing protesters in Awamiyya” in the country’s Shiite-majority east.

“All of these charges stem from tweets he posted online,” the group said in a Friday press release, “some of which were in support of Saudi Arabian women’s right to drive cars, human rights defenders and prisoners of conscience.”

The group says Brinji, who has worked for the local newspapers al-Bilad, Okaz and al-Sharq, was arrested in May 2014 and initially charged with apostasy, which carries the death penalty. He also initially was accused of “calling for secularist thought” and “attempting to tarnish the country’s reputation.”



Amnesty International says Brinji has not been provided access to an attorney and that the court on Thursday ordered his Twitter account closed.

The Twitter account and its Arabic-language postings remained undeleted as of Friday afternoon, with the most recent tweets being from May 2014.



Alaa Brinji is pictured in a photo provided by Amnesty International.

Courtesy of Amnesty International

The Saudi court system is notoriously opaque, making it difficult for media outlets to independently verify the reporting of human rights groups who work with sources to track cases. The judiciary is run by Muslim clerics who apply a harsh reading of Islamic law, though the Saudi king can issue pardons.

U.S. News was unable to confirm details of the case. Adam Coogle, a Saudi Arabia researcher for Human Rights Watch – another organization that tracks legal cases in the country – was unable to immediately confirm Amnesty’s reporting.



As generally is the case, the Saudi Embassy in Washington did not respond to a request for comment.

Badawi founded a website called “Saudi Arabian Liberals” that hosted criticism of religious leaders and alleged insults to Islam. His 2014 sentence of 10 years in prison and 1,000 lashes led to a State Department rebuke.

Al-Nimr was arrested at age 17 following 2012 protests in Saudi Arabia’s Shiite-majority Eastern Province and was sentenced to beheading followed by crucifixion of his corpse.



Al-Nimr’s uncle, Nimr al-Nimr – a prominent Shiite religious leader and critic of the Saudi government – was beheaded in January, setting off protests and international condemnation. Ali al-Nimr’s supporters say he has been dealt with unfairly because of his uncle’s political views, and deny accusations the young protester possessed weapons or threw Molotov cocktails.

The U.S.-allied authoritarian monarchy is executing prisoners in greater numbers under King Salman, who took the throne in January 2015, and critics charge it's engaged in an aggressive campaign of internal repression.

Badawi’s defense attorney, Waleed Abu al-Khair, now is reportedly serving a 15-year sentence for crimes that include "antagonizing international organisations against the kingdom" and "incitement of public opinion against authorities."

Amnesty International indicated it will campaign for Brinji's release, though it remains to be seen if the journalist will become a household name in the West.



“The sentencing of Alaa Brinji to a five-year prison term is utterly shameful,” James Lynch, deputy director of Amnesty International’s Middle East and North Africa program, said in a statement.