Karni’s son Nasir has shared the filing of the prosecution. He had fled to Britain last year to seek asylum. Prosecutors have accused Qarni of spreading anti-government messages on Facebook and Twitter, where he has nearly two million followers. Court documents say, “He tweets from his Twitter account at every opportunity and uses the platform to express his misguided ideology.” The documents include criticism of Saudi judicial rulings in the name of objectionable posts.
Accused of supporting terrorist organization
The filing states that Qarni’s social media posts are seen as ‘attempts to destabilize the foundation of the country, incite the society against its rulers, create unrest and show sympathy for the enemy country (Qatar)’. It added that he also expressed “support for the Muslim Brotherhood terrorist organization’s agenda against the motherland and its rulers”.
‘Reformist agenda’ vs ‘death penalty’
The Saudi cleric has also been accused of ‘attempts to destabilize the social fabric’. Saudi Arabia is the largest exporter of crude oil in the world. He is working on a ‘reformist agenda’ to woo foreign tourists and investors. In fact it wants to reduce its economic dependence on oil. However, the country still faces criticism for harsh court rulings and large-scale executions.
