The U.S. has raised concerns with Saudi Arabia about an American citizen whom the kingdom sentenced to 16 years in prison for posting tweets critical of the Saudi government.
“We have consistently and intensively raised our concerns regarding the case at senior levels of the Saudi government,” White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said Wednesday. “The Saudi government understands the priority we attach to resolving this matter.”
The State Department on Tuesday confirmed the man, Saad Ibrahim Almadi, remains in detention. The Washington Post reported earlier on Almadi’s imprisonment, and his son in an interview with the paper criticized the department’s handling of his case.
Jean-Pierre said U.S. officials have been in touch with Saudi counterparts in both Washington and Riyadh and that they would continue to raise Almadi’s case.
State Department spokesman Vedant Patel said U.S. officials were in touch with the Saudi government about the matter as recently as Monday. He said U.S. diplomats last had consular access to Almadi on Aug. 10, and that the Saudi government did not provide information in advance about the man’s sentencing hearing, despite repeated U.S. requests.
“Exercising the freedom of expression should never be criminalized,” Jean-Pierre said.
Almadi, 72, was taken into custody last November when traveling to Riyadh to visit family. The Saudi government also imposed a 16-year travel ban preventing him from leaving the kingdom in addition to his prison sentence.
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(Bloomberg News senior reporter Lain Marlow contributed to this article).
