Saudi Quran Reciter Sentenced to 12 Years in Jail
According to the report by the Twitter account of the Prisoners of Conscience, a Saudi court that handles cases related to terrorism issued the verdict for Abdullah Basfar.
He has been given the jail term for accepting to be the prayer leader of the Hagia Sophia Mosque in Istanbul, Turkey, eight years ago.
There are no more details about the verdict.
Basfar was detained in August 2020 during a crackdown on dissidents, rights activists, political activists and scholars in Saudi Arabia.
Basfar is a renowned Quran reciter who also used to teach Islamic sciences at a university in Jeddah and served as the secretary general of the Quran and Sunnah World Association for a number of years.
Amir al-Muhalhal was another famous qari who was taken into custody during the August 2020 crackdown.
Ever since Mohammed bin Salman became Saudi Arabia’s de facto leader in 2017, the kingdom has arrested hundreds of activists, bloggers, intellectuals and others for their political activism.
Riyadh has shown almost zero tolerance for dissent even in the face of international condemnation of the crackdown.
4091760
