🔗 Share this article

The Kingdom has agreed to allow US citizen Saad Almadi to come back to Florida, well before of the planned removal of travel restrictions and a day after the kingdom's leader and prime minister met Donald Trump at the White House.

Judicial Proceedings Overview

Almadi, seventy-five, was sentenced to 19 years of imprisonment in the kingdom in 2021 after he posted 14 tweets critical of the Riyadh government. After 24 months, the allegations were modified to termed "cyber crimes" and he was sentenced to a 30-year ban on departing from Saudi Arabia.

"Our family rejoices that, after four long years, our father, Saad Almadi, is finally on his way home to the United States!"

The announcement that Almadi, a person with dual nationality and retired engineer who had resided in the US since the 1970s, would be allowed to depart the country came after the US president delivered a speech touting US-Saudi ties, including arms sales and financial agreements.

Diplomatic Recognition

"This moment would not have been possible without President Donald Trump and the persistent work of his administration. We are deeply grateful to Dr Sebastian Gorka and the team at the security advisory board, as well as everyone at the foreign affairs office," the statement continued.

The declaration by Almadi's son, Ibrahim Almadi, also expressed gratitude to various charitable groups, including the James Foley Fund and Hostages America, and House speaker Mike Johnson for backing the older Almadi's cause. He subsequently shared on social media that his father was on his way to the US.

Wider Implications

Almadi is one of a small number of American people with dual nationality facing travel restrictions from Saudi Arabia following a crackdown on online dissent. His son has earlier stated that Almadi was coerced to sign papers giving up his US citizenship.

The case against Almadi centered on social media posts in which he was accused of urged Saudi citizens to seek Lebanese citizenship and criticized the kingdom's defenses against Houthi rocket strikes.

More controversially, he supported the renaming of a street in the US capital after Jamal Khashoggi, the journalist and Washington Post columnist murdered in the Saudi consulate in Istanbul in 2018.

Khashoggi Case

US intelligence reports published by the Biden administration later concluded that the crown prince had approved of a plan to "detain or eliminate" Khashoggi.

Questioned regarding the killing, Trump said the crown prince "knew nothing" of Khashoggi's killing. The Saudi crown prince has denied any wrongdoing. He said at the White House that Saudi Arabia "did all the right things" to examine Khashoggi's death, which he called "painful" and a "huge mistake".

International Efforts

US diplomatic efforts to free Almadi and allow him to come back to the US has been increasing since Trump's trip to Saudi Arabia in May. Many appealed to Trump's assertion that he is uniquely successful in repatriating US citizens held overseas.

When questioned by journalists in May about the case, Trump said he didn't know about it but promised to investigate. A few weeks later, one of his national security aides, Gorka, met the younger Almadi at the White House.

"President Trump is the president of deals and he enjoys working with the Saudis and we will secure your father's release," Johnson said.