Saudi Arabian Supreme Court Denies Appeal for Man Sentenced to Death for Apostasy

Ahmad Al Shamri, a Saudi Arabian man who allegedly “renounced Islam and the Prophet Mohammed” on social media and was sentenced to death for apostasy had his appeal dismissed by the nation’s Supreme Court. That effectively means he’ll die for the “crime” of challenging Islam in the Muslim theocracy.

This tweet, translated by @Faris_dream, is one example of someone applauding the man's death sentence. — This tweet, translated by @Faris_dream, is one example of someone applauding Ahmad Al Shamri’s death sentence.

He was arrested on charges of atheism and blasphemy and held in prison before being convicted by a local court and sentenced to death in February 2015.

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He reportedly lost an Appeals Court case, and a Supreme Court ruled against him earlier this week.

There are reports that he was initially hit with those charges after uploading a video showing men and women dancing… it’s unclear to me if Saudi officials considered that video a rebuke to Islam or if Al Shamri did those things separately. Not that it matters at this point, since neither action deserves any sort of punishment.

Saudi Arabia is, of course, where Raif Badawi and another man remain in prison for apostasy (both were also sentenced to receive thousands of lashes) as well as a nation where atheism has been deemed equivalent to terrorism.

There’s a hashtag on Twitter that many Saudis are using to discuss this case. In some cases, they’re applauding the decision. @Faris_dream, an ex-Muslim, is translating some of the worst tweets here.

(via The Ex-Muslim)