Saudi Arabia releases US citizen Almadi jailed over tweets
Saad Ibrahim Almadi was released after 16 months in prison but remains in Riyadh under a travel ban, according to his son.
WASHINGTON — Saudi Arabia has released a 72-year-old US citizen imprisoned for more than a year over tweets critical of the Saudi government, his son told Al-Monitor early Tuesday.
Saad Ibrahim Almadi, a retired project manager from Florida who also holds Saudi citizenship, faced 19 years behind bars for tweets he wrote while in the United States. His son, Ibrahim Almadi, said Tuesday that all charges against his father were dropped, but that he remains in Riyadh with family under a travel ban imposed as part of his original sentence.
The younger Almadi met with State Department officials in Washington last week, and said he has been given no indication that the travel ban will be lifted.
“I was hoping he would be released, and in a few hours jump into a plane like they promised,” Almadi said in a phone interview. “But they told me it's now a different fight.”
