Saudi court sentences Yemeni terror suspect to 10 years in prison

A Saudi court has sentenced a Yemeni man to 10 years in prison on charges of belonging to Al-Qaeda and accusing the Saudi and Kuwaiti governments of blasphemy.

Al-Riyadh newspaper reported that the capital’s specialised criminal court found “the defendant guilty of belonging to Al-Qaeda terrorist group in Yemen and planning to travel there to pledge allegiance to its leader”.

Read: Saudi prosecution accuses YouTube of supporting terrorism

The defendant was found guilty of “preparing, sending and storing material that hurt the public order and publishing comments that support the organisation and spreading its news as well as accusing the Saudi and Kuwaiti governments of blasphemy and supporting the bombing of a mosque in Kuwait in 2015 by Daesh”.

The defendant was also convicted of “storing offensive remarks on Twitter against the Saudi government and rulers and supporting Al-Qaeda and one of its symbols and spreading false information about prisons in the Kingdom”.

The court also ruled to deport the man from the country after the end of his sentence.