My Dad Was Jailed for 16 Years in Saudi Arabia Over a Bunch of Tweets

Ibrahim Almadi last spoke to his father over the phone on the 21st of November, 2021. It was the same day his father arrived in Saudi Arabia’s capital Riyadh to visit family.

But his dad never made it out of the airport, as when he landed he was, in Ibrahim’s words, “kidnapped”.

“From my understanding, he had been held in a hotel for a few weeks then moved to Al Ha’ir prison,” Ibrahim told VICE World News, “where he went through the torture routine for Saudi citizens who practise their freedom of speech.”

Saad Ibrahim Almadi, a 72-year-old dual US-Saudi national, had been arrested for tweets criticising the Saudi government. He had sent them over the past few years while living in Florida. Things went quiet after his arrest but then earlier this year came the news that shocked his family – he had been sentenced to 16 years in jail.

“I can’t imagine the pain my father is in right now,” Ibrahim said, as he tries to raise awareness about his father’s case and keep his situation in the news.

Almadi’s case is the second known incident of the Saudi regime jailing people travelling back to the country over historic tweets. Salma al-Shehab, a UK-based PhD student, was jailed for 34 years over her Twitter activity.

Both cases went through notorious Saudi courts held behind closed doors that give judges the ability to pass long prison sentences and even the death penalty without any chance of appeal or fair trial. 

Ibrahim says he’s in touch with the US embassy in Riyadh as well as the US Department of State, but neither have been able to make contact with his father to check on his condition since the 10th of August this year.

“My feelings and my family’s feelings can’t be described,” Ibrahim, 26, said. “There have been no updates yet.”

He says he’s had to cut ties with his family in Saudi Arabia due to safety concerns. He’s also had to pause his business career in order to continue the campaign for his father’s release.

Ibrahim wants US President Joe Biden to intervene and do something about his father’s case. 

He says his father is his number one supporter and had always encouraged him to have hope, and so he continues to have hope that he’ll see him again. But should he lose him, “nothing matters after that”.