Saudi TV maker Abdulaziz Almuzaini, whose animated Netflix show made waves for breaking social taboos, said he had been convicted by an anti-terrorism court, prompting condemnation from human rights activists.
The kingdom’s Specialized Criminal Court, which was created in 2008 to try terrorist suspects, “issued against me (a sentence of) 13 years, followed by a 13-year travel ban,” Mr Almuzaini said in a video released last was posted online this week. was subsequently removed.
In a second video posted this week and still available on social media platform
Saudi officials did not immediately respond to a request for comment from AFP on Thursday, and there was no word that Mr. Almuzaini — who was unavailable for comment — had been detained.
His satirical show “Masameer County,” billed as “a humorous look at a changing Saudi Arabia,” debuted in 2021.
Episodes covered topics such as tribal disputes and Islamic militancy, and even included indirect references to homosexuality, a potential capital crime in Saudi Arabia.
The Wall Street Journal on July 4, it was reported that court documents in the case referred to online posts by Almuzaini that “ridiculed Arab regimes… or expressed support for women’s rights.”
Mr Almuzaini said in the now-deleted video that the court accused him of promoting homosexuality and militancy.
He also said that under increasing pressure from Saudi authorities, he was forced to close his company, Myrkott Animation Studio.
“The services of all employees of Myrkott company were terminated a week ago,” he said.
“Those are people who have families, people who have been working with us since 2012. I had to stand up and apologize to all of them and announce to them that Myrkott had ended.”
Appeal to the prince
The video included a direct appeal to Saudi Arabia’s de facto ruler, Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, who became first in line to the throne in 2017 and oversaw sweeping social and economic reforms.
“I believe that we are in a country governed by a rational family, and if any of its citizens is subjected to injustice, I am confident that my vote, which reaches His Highness the Crown Prince, will be part of what happens happened to me, will correct’. said Almuzaini.
Saudi Arabia has been criticized for what activists describe as a fierce crackdown on even vaguely critical online speech.
Over the past two years, the Saudi judiciary has convicted “dozens of individuals and imposed lengthy prison sentences for their statements on social media,” human rights groups Amnesty International and ALQST said in April.
Saudi officials say the suspects committed terrorism-related crimes.
High-profile examples include two women who were jailed for decades in 2022 for posting and sharing critical online messages, and a retired teacher who was sentenced to death last year after denouncing alleged corruption and human rights abuses on social media.
Prince Mohammed in an interview in September with Fox news said he disapproved of that judgment and raised the possibility that the retired teacher, Mohammed al-Ghamdi, would be spared death.
Unlike these cases, it appears that Mr. Almuzaini has not served time in prison.
Nevertheless, the proceedings against him appeared to continue a trend of hampering freedom of expression, said Abdullah Alaoudh, senior director for countering authoritarianism at the US-based Middle East Democracy Center.
“Saudi Arabia’s creative industries will not flourish – let alone attract investment – until authorities recognize and fully respect the human rights of all its citizens,” Mr Alaoudh said.
Lina al-Hathloul, head of monitoring and communications for ALQST, denounced the imposition of a travel ban, as was the case with her sister, prominent women’s rights activist Loujain al-Hathloul.
“We would all like to live in the country, but in safety and without these violations and the arbitrary and unjustified travel ban that has exhausted many, including my family,” London-based Lina al-Hathloul said on X.
