A poet has received the death sentence for having abandoned the Muslim religion; to this verdict, the Saudi Minister of Justice stated that he would prosecute the users of the Twitter social network, to compare Ashraf Fayadh’s sentence to the murders committed by ISIS.
Ashraf Fayadh is a 35-year-old Palestine poet, sentenced to death in Saudi Arabia after being accused of abandoning the Muslim religion. This ruling has triggered numerous campaigns in social media and harsh criticism of human rights organizations in the Middle East, that demand the accused be released.
The Palestine poet was incarcerated in January 2014, and sentenced this past November 17th for apostasy and spreading “ideas negative for the Saudi society”. Fayadh asserts that he is a victim of a personal issue and rejects all charges existing against him.
At the beginning of his trial, one of Abha’s tribunals sentenced him to 800 whip lashes and 4 years in prison, but the sentence was modified last week by the authorities and he was sentenced to death instead.
Regarding this fact, the Palestine manifests that he is accused because of a poetry book he authored, as well as many pictures of nude ladies in his cell phone. The poetry book was sent to a clergy council to proceed with the evaluation of its content. According to the Palestine poet, an Arab university student accused him for publishing the poetry book: “Instructions Within”, by means of a lawsuit made in 2008.
Fayadh said: “The accusations against me are based in wrong interpretations of some of the poems”, according to some versions linked to the tribunals, the Islamic law was the foundation for the ruling.
The Ministry issued a statement pointing out that questioning the rulings taken by the Saudi Justice System is “essentially questioning the Islamic Law’s Justice”, this comes as a response to the comparisons that have been made.
The controversy around the sentence was fully expected among the citizens, who have used social media to express themselves and let loose about what happened. Reports by local and international media announce the position taken by the Ministry of Justice of adopting all necessary measures, under the country’s legislation, towards people or media outlets that question rulings, insult the judicial system or emits any sort of comparison to ISIS rulings.
Organizations like “Humans Rights Watch”, International Amnisty and social media users have started campaigns to keep Fayadh’s death sentence to be carried out so that he may live. Fayadh voiced his intentions to appeal the verdict, which could make the case reach an appeals court and even the Supreme Court.
ALFA