Hawzah News Agency - Saudi authorities arrested and handed down prison sentences to three dissident Muslim preachers, according to reports, as a brutal crackdown led by Crown Prince Mohammad bin Salman against clerics and intellectuals widens in the ultra-conservative kingdom.
The Prisoners of Conscience, an independent non-governmental organization advocating human rights in Saudi Arabia, announced in a post on its official Twitter page on Thursday that Sheikh Fahad al-Qadi has been sentenced to six years in prison on charges of “sending a secret letter of advice” to the Royal Court of Saudi Arabia back in 2016. The cleric was being kept in detention ever since he posted the letter, presstv reported.
Separately, Saudi forces have arrested Sheikh Dr. Abdulrahman al-Mahmoud over his remarks made in an old video, in which he warns against attempts to spread corruption in the kingdom.
The Prisoners of Conscience announced that the detention had been demanded by Turki bin Abdulmohsen bin Abdul Latif Al Sheikh, who is an adviser at the Royal Court and the current Chairman of the General Entertainment Authority (GEA).
Sheikh Mahmoud is said to be kept at Dhahban Central Prison in the Red Sea port city of Jeddah.
The GEA is reportedly responsible for the development and regulation of the kingdom's entertainment sector.