Freedom for the Blogger Omar Napoli- Victim of Turki Al-Sheikh

September 2019 was the last time that the Saudi tweeter, “Omar Napoli”, owner of the sarcastic account on social media followed by tens of thousands of users from Saudi Arabia, enjoyed it.

Omar never imagined that he would lose his freedom and all his rights, for simply using his right to express his opinion on something about country or his people, whom had always affirmed his love for.

Omar Napoli has disappeared in mysterious circumstances since that date, and according to sources, he was arrested by the Saudi security forces for sharing a sarcastic tweet in which he criticized the prominent Saudi official Turki Al-Sheikh – a current advisor in the Royal Court with the rank of minister, and Chairman of the Board of Directors of the General Entertainment Authority.

Omar has not been officially charged so far, but some sources confirmed that his criticism of the Sheikh’s Turk is a major reason, while others confirmed that he is also accused of the same accusations that were leveled against the famous Saudi blogger and activist Abdulaziz Al-Awda, who was arrested in the same period, and was recently sentenced to prison for his refusal to normalize relations with Israel, where the Specialized Criminal Court in Riyadh issued a five-year prison sentence, suspended for two years and six months against him.

It is reported that the authorities had imposed a travel ban on Al-Awda and other tweeters in early September 2019 for tweeting about the Palestinian cause and they signed pledges not to talk about Palestine, normalization or support ingthe Palestinian resistance anymore, however, the security services arrested him at the end of the same month and forced other tweeters to sign on other pledges not to talk about the Palestinian issue and normalization shortly before the Saudi team visited the Palestinian territories and obtained security approval from the Israeli authorities to play a football match against the Palestinian team within the joint Asian qualifiers for the World Cup and the Asian Cup.

As for the age of Naploli, he is still under incommunicado detention, without disclosing the real reasons behind his arrest, and no one was allowed to see his file to follow up on the developments of his legal position.

The disclosure of these violations comes at a time when Turki Al-Sheikh enjoys great powers by virtue of his position in the Royal Court and the Entertainment Authority. This confirms the extent of corruption among officials in the Saudi regime, who use their positions and influence to abuse the people, while ensuring complete impunity and lack of accountability.

We demand the immediate disclosure of the fate of the young blogger Omar Naploli, and the unconditional release of him and all prisoners of conscience inside the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, who have not committed any crime other than using their legitimate right to express their opinion.