LONDON, Dec 20 (Reuters) – A Yemeni man has been sentenced to 15 years in prison in Saudi Arabia for encouraging “apostasy, disbelief and atheism” online, Human Rights Watch said on Monday.

Ali Abu Luhum was tried in October for comments made on two anonymous Twitter accounts, the New York-based campaign group said. He is appealing the conviction, he added.

The Saudi government media office did not immediately respond to a request for comment. There was no mention of the case in the Saudi media.

The 38-year-old was arrested by Saudi authorities in August and told his family that his social media activities were the basis for his arrest, Human Rights Watch (HRW) said.

According to the HRW report, Abu Luhum made a confession but later retracted it, saying it was made under duress.

The rights group said court documents showed Saudi prosecutors argued that anonymous Twitter accounts were registered with phone numbers linked to Abu Luhum.

The charges mentioned in the documents included “the denial of the existence of God; impersonating, doubting and mocking God, Islam (and) the Prophet Muhammad; to promote atheism; and to publish and promote anything that undermines public order, religious values ​​and public morals on social networks. media,” HRW said.

Saudi Arabia, the birthplace of Islam, follows a strict Wahhabi school of Sunni Muslim belief, although efforts to moderate religious discourse and practice have accelerated in recent years under Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, who seeks to increase foreign investment.

According to the Wahhabi interpretation of Islamic law, apostasy requires the death penalty, which prosecutors had originally requested.

This was later revised down by the judge, following the recantation of the confession, HRW said.

Reporting by Raya Jalabi; Editing by Andrew Heavens

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