The sentencing of a political dissident in Saudi Arabia has presented a major test for a U.S. administration promising to put “human rights at the center of foreign policy.”
37-year-old Abdulrahman al-Sadhan has been sentenced to 20 years in prison after a sham trial in Saudi Arabia. His crime? Al-Sadhan is alleged to be behind a satirical Twitter account mocking the Saudi ruling family.
His lawyer has until Wednesday, May 5 to file an appeal, but this case is most likely to be resolved politically, after strong intervention from Washington.
The month before Joe Biden won last year’s presidential election, he promised that, if elected, he would “reassess our relationship with the Kingdom [of Saudi Arabia] … and make sure America does not check its values at the door to sell arms or buy oil.”