Saudi cartoonist is jailed 23 years for satirical drawings that ‘insulted the kingdom’s leaders’

A Saudi artist has been sentenced to more than two decades in prison over political cartoons that allegedly insulted the Gulf kingdom’s leadership, his sister and a rights group said this week.

The case against Mohammed al-Hazza, 48, adds to concerns about freedom of expression under Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, as Saudi Arabia – the world’s largest crude oil exporter – seeks to open up to tourists and investors after years of isolation.

The father of five was arrested in February 2018 in Saudi Arabia during ‘a violent raid’ in which security forces entered his home and ransacked his studio, the London-based Sanad Human Rights Organisation said in a statement.

A court document seen by AFP says the charges against him concern ‘offensive cartoons’ he produced for the Qatari newspaper Lusail as well as social media posts that were allegedly ‘hostile’ to Saudi Arabia and supportive of Qatar.

Hazza’s arrest came less than a year after Saudi Arabia and several allies cut ties with Qatar, claiming it supported extremists and was too close to Iran – allegations that Doha denied. The countries mended ties in January 2021.

Saudi artist Mohammed al-Hazza has been sentenced to more than two decades in prison

At least 208 people have been put to death in the Middle Eastern nation so far this year, outstripping the most recent high of 196 in 2022 with almost three months still remaining on the calendar

Saudi Arabia’s Specialised Criminal Court, set up in 2008 to deal with terrorism-related cases, initially sentenced Hazza to six years in prison.

But this year, as Hazza was preparing to be released, the case was re-opened and he was sentenced to 23 years, his sister Asrar al-Hazza told AFP by phone from the United States.

‘He was almost there… He almost left the prison. But then out of nowhere it was opened again and it was 23 years,’ she said.

Saudi authorities did not immediately respond to a request for comment about the case on Wednesday. 

Sanad said in its statement that Hazza worked for Lusail mostly before the 2017 boycott ‘and only briefly afterward’ and that most of his cartoons concerned domestic Qatari issues.

The group said prosecutors failed to provide evidence of cartoons that were offensive to Saudi Arabia or social media posts that backed Qatar during the boycott.

Under Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, Saudi Arabia has been criticised for what activists describe as a fierce crackdown on even vaguely critical online speech.

In the past two years the Saudi judiciary has ‘convicted and handed down lengthy prison terms on dozens of individuals for their expression on social media’, human rights groups Amnesty International and ALQST said in April.

Saudi officials say the accused committed terrorism-related offences.

‘The case of Mohammed al-Hazza is one example of the suppression of freedom of expression in Saudi Arabia, which has not spared anyone, including artists,’ Sanad operations manager Samer Alshumrani told AFP.

‘This is supported by the politicised, non-independent judiciary in Saudi Arabia.’

Al-Hazza’s sentence comes days after Saudi Arabia was denied a seat on the UN’s Human Rights Council. 

The Saudi Arabian government has continued to attempt to present itself as a reformed country that has made progress on gender equality and human rights.

But the Kingdom has carried out a record number of executions this year under Crown Prince Mohammed – at least 208 people have been put to death in the Middle Eastern nation in 2024 so far.

Since taking on the role of Crown Prince in 2015, Salman has overseen at least 1,447 executions and, despite a mortarium on the use of the death penalty for minor offences in 2020, the instances of capital punishment reached a monthly record high of 41 in August and 32 last month. 

The brutal regime has also served lengthy prison sentences to several women, often during secret trials, after they were caught using social media to advocate for more rights and freedoms for women.

One such woman, Manahel al-Otaibi, 30, was sentenced to 11 years in prison for ‘terrorist offences’ after the Saudi Arabian fitness instructor posted messages about female empowerment online. 

The United Nations Human Rights Council in Geneva. The harrowing figures comes as the UN gets ready to vote tomorrow on whether the Gulf state should be granted membership of the Human Rights council

Manahel al-Otaibi, 30, was jailed for 11 years after posting about female empowerment on social media

Saudi Arabia’s envoy to the UN, Abdulaziz Alwasil (pictured), was elected as chair of the Commission on the Status of Women (CSW) in a completely unopposed race

Saudi Arabia has a shocking record on gender equality (File image)

Earlier this month, Manahel told her family she had been stabbed in the face with a sharp pen and required stitches – but when her family attempted to report the attack to the Saudi government’s Human Rights Commission, they were allegedly ignored.

Yet Saudi Arabia was chosen in March to chair a UN commission that is meant to promote gender equality and empower women.

To the dismay of human rights groups across the globe, Saudi Arabia’s envoy to the UN, Abdulaziz Alwasil, was elected as chair of the Commission on the Status of Women (CSW) in a completely unopposed race at the group’s annual meeting in New York.

He was even endorsed by a group of Asia-Pacific states on the commission, despite his nation’s notorious record on gender equality, which human rights groups were quick to point out.

Louis Charbonneau, UN director at Human Rights Watch, said at the time: ‘Saudi Arabia’s election as chair of the UN Commission on the Status of Women shows shocking disregard for women’s rights everywhere.

‘A country that jails women simply because they advocate for their rights has no business being the face of the UN’s top forum for women’s rights and gender equality.

‘Saudi authorities should demonstrate that this honor was not completely undeserved and immediately release all detained women’s rights defenders, end male guardianship and ensure women’s full rights to equality with men.’

Saudi lawmakers passed a law in 2022 that claims to have increased the ‘personal status’ of women in the nation.

But the law explicitly says that a woman has to obtain permission from a male guardian to marry.

It also says that a wife has to obey her husband in a ‘reasonable manner’, and states that her husband’s financial support depends on her ‘obedience.’

A husband can withdraw financial support for reasons including refusing to have sex with him, live in a marital home or travel with him without a ‘legitimate excuse.’