Egypt's FM highlights 'soft power' in Mali meeting with alumni    Egypt's foreign minister opens business forum in Niger, targets new partnerships    Egypt's FM delivers Al-Sisi message to Niger's leader, seeks deeper security ties    Rafah Crossing 'never been closed for one day' from Egypt: PM    Egypt will keep pushing for Gaza peace, aid: PM    Remittances from Egyptians abroad surge 70% YoY in July–May: CBE    Sudan's ambassador to Egypt holds reconstruction talks on with Arab League    Egypt's current account gap narrows, but overall BoP records deficit    Al-Sisi urges accelerated oil, gas discoveries, lower import bill    SCZONE signs $52.6m textile industry deals during China investment tour    Egypt hosts international neurosurgery conference to drive medical innovation    Egypt's EDA discusses Johnson & Johnson's plans to expand investment in local pharmaceutical sector    I won't trade my identity to please market: Douzi    Sisi calls for boosting oil & gas investment to ease import burden    EGX to close Thursday for July 23 Revolution holiday    Egypt, Senegal sign pharma MoU to unify regulatory standards    Egyptian Drug Authority discusses plans for joint pharmaceutical plant in Zambia    Two militants killed in foiled plot to revive 'Hasm' operations: Interior ministry    Egypt, Somalia discuss closer environmental cooperation    Egypt foils terrorist plot, kills two militants linked to Hasm group    Giza Pyramids' interior lighting updated with new LED system    Egypt's EHA, Huawei discuss enhanced digital health    Foreign, housing ministers discuss Egypt's role in African development push    Korea Culture Week in Egypt to blend K-Pop with traditional arts    Egypt reveals heritage e-training portal    Three ancient rock-cut tombs discovered in Aswan    Sisi launches new support initiative for families of war, terrorism victims    Egypt expands e-ticketing to 110 heritage sites, adds self-service kiosks at Saqqara    Egypt's Irrigation Minister urges scientific cooperation to tackle water scarcity    Palm Hills Squash Open debuts with 48 international stars, $250,000 prize pool    Egypt's Democratic Generation Party Evaluates 84 Candidates Ahead of Parliamentary Vote    On Sport to broadcast Pan Arab Golf Championship for Juniors and Ladies in Egypt    Golf Festival in Cairo to mark Arab Golf Federation's 50th anniversary    Germany among EU's priciest labour markets – official data    Paris Olympic gold '24 medals hit record value    A minute of silence for Egyptian sports    Russia says it's in sync with US, China, Pakistan on Taliban    It's a bit frustrating to draw at home: Real Madrid keeper after Villarreal game    Shoukry reviews with Guterres Egypt's efforts to achieve SDGs, promote human rights    Sudan says countries must cooperate on vaccines    Johnson & Johnson: Second shot boosts antibodies and protection against COVID-19    Egypt to tax bloggers, YouTubers    Egypt's FM asserts importance of stability in Libya, holding elections as scheduled    We mustn't lose touch: Muller after Bayern win in Bundesliga    Egypt records 36 new deaths from Covid-19, highest since mid June    Egypt sells $3 bln US-dollar dominated eurobonds    Gamal Hanafy's ceramic exhibition at Gezira Arts Centre is a must go    Italian Institute Director Davide Scalmani presents activities of the Cairo Institute for ITALIANA.IT platform    







Thank you for reporting!
This image will be automatically disabled when it gets reported by several people.



#SueMeSaudi: Twitter users taunt Saudi Arabia
Published in Daily News Egypt on 30 - 11 - 2015

The hashtag #SueMeSaudi is soaring after a source at the Saudi Arabian justice ministry reportedly said he would sue a Twitter user who compared Saudi Arabia to the terror group "Islamic State."
The justice ministry official was quoted by the government-aligned Al Riyadh newspaper as saying "The justice ministry will sue the person who described … the sentencing of a man to death for apostasy as being ‘ISIS-like,'" Reuters reports.
The official did not define who the Twitter user was or what the potential punishment would be, but he did succeed in accidentally create two hashtags: #SaudiArabiaIsISIS and #SueMeSaudi.
Comparing Saudi Arabia to terror group "Islamic State" had already become more common ever since Palestinian poet Ashraf Fayadh was sentenced to death for "spreading atheism and disrespecting the prophet" November.
But it was the threat of legal action against the Twitter user in Saudi Arabia that has encouraged Twitter users throughout the world to openly defy and even taunt the Saudi government:.
Here, a Twitter user has retweeted an image originally created by the online news portal MiddleEastEye.net that breaks down and compares Saudi Arabia's policies with those of "IS."
Another image that's being tweeted and retweeted is this political cartoon from Peter Brookes, which graphically depicts the similarities in capital punishment exercised by IS and Saudi Arabia.
Twitter user Jason Spencer even allows us to quantify – albeit with a rather leading question and choice of answers – the way social media users currently feel about Saudi Arabia's head of state, King Salman. Just answer the question yourself to see the most popular response:
Generally, there are known parallels between the "Islamic State" terror group and the state religion of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, Wahhabism, a radical-conservative interpretation of Sunni-Islam.
Since Riyadh equates atheism with terrorism, for example, the following photo is a punishable offense in Saudi Arabia.
The photograph was taken next to the Ka'aba, the most sacred site in the world for Muslims, located in Mecca, Saudi Arabia. Here, it's being retweeted by someone who did not take the original photograph.
Online, scrutiny of Saudi Arabia has increased intensely ever since the country convicted blogger Raif Badawi to 1,000 lashes for apostaphy. He has received 50 so far, with weekly Friday protests – both offline and online – having raised international awareness about his plight.
Poet Ashraf Fayadh has 30 days to appeal this conviction. He maintains the accusations are false – as he has since he was first tried and found guilty of the crimes in 2014 before being retried.
Human Rights Watch, which has seen Fayadh's trial documents, says the charges include blaspheming "the divine self" and the Prophet Muhammed, spreading atheism, mocking the verses of God and the prophets, refuting the Quran and having an illicit relationship with women and storing their pictures on his phone.
Fayadh's conviction could in theory result in his beheading. Saudia Arabia has executed more than 150 people in 2015, the most in decades. The majority of these beheadings are due to murder and drug charges.


Clic here to read the story from its source.