Saudi Arabia sentences Egyptian to prison for ‘supporting the Muslim Brotherhood’

A Saudi court has sentenced an Egyptian national residing in Saudi Arabia to four years in prison, fined him 5,000 Saudi Riyals (around $1,333) and ordered his expulsion from the country after serving his sentence on charges of belonging to the Muslim Brotherhood.

The Muslim Brotherhood is banned in Riyadh and designated as a “terrorist organisation”.

The verdict, which was issued by the judge of Riyadh’s criminal court on Tuesday, stipulates that the defendant should pay any dues and be prohibited from entering Saudi Arabia except for Hajj and Umrah, according to the Saudi newspaper Okaz.

The Saudi newspaper added that the Egyptian citizen was also accused of supporting militant groups in Syria, including those classified as “terrorist groups”, sympathizing with the Muslim Brotherhood during its rule of Egypt, intending to leave to Syria to take part in the fighting there and failing to report a Saudi person who wanted to go to Syria.