Pakistani national sentenced to prison for posting video of sloganeering at Masjid-e-Nabwi

Saudi Arabia has sentenced a Pakistani man to three years in prison and fined him SR10,000 (Rs0.54 million) for sharing online a video of sloganeering by a group of people at Masjid-e-Nabwi. Pakistan’s foreign office on Friday confirmed that a Pakistani national, Tahir Malik, was sentenced in Saudi Arabia for sharing the video of the incident.

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Ahmad clarified Malik was not one of the Pakistani citizens apprehended by the Madinah police for chanting slogans, but he was charged “on account of using social media prejudice to the public order against the local laws.”

Videos shared online in late April showed people chanting slogans against Pakistani Information Minister Marriyum Aurangzeb and Minister for Narcotics Control Shahzain Bugti while they visited the mosque. The politicians were part of a delegation led by Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif on an official visit to the kingdom. It was widely believed that the protesters were supporters of former Prime Minister Imran Khan, ousted that month in a parliamentary vote of no-confidence.

Madinah police arrested at least five Pakistani nationals for “abusing and insulting” the visiting delegation, while police in Pakistan registered cases against Khan, and members of his political party for “deliberate and malicious intent to outrage religious sentiment” and “disturbing religious assembly and abetment.”

Source: Arab News Pk