Relatives of Saudis facing heavy sentences for social media posts are calling on the kingdom's de facto ruler to take action after he voiced shame over their cases.
In a rare interview with Fox News last week, Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman was asked about Mohammed al-Ghamdi, a retired school teacher sentenced to death in July for posts on X, formerly Twitter, where he had around 10 followers.
Prince Mohammed acknowledged that details of the case described in media reports were "true" and said he disapproved of the judgement.
"We are not happy with that. We are ashamed of that," he said, blaming "bad laws" he had so far been unable to change.