Three Saudi Lawyers Sent to Prison over Tweets

Our allies in the Middle East

A Saudi Arabian court on Monday sentenced three lawyers to up to eight years in jail for sending tweets critical of the government.

The tweets were directed against the justice ministry, which has since 2010 promised to reform the courts system and codify just how the country's legal adherence to Sharia law works.

Prosecutors charged the three lawyers with "contempt of the judiciary, interfering with its independence, criticizing the justice system and the judiciary."

For unexplained reasons, the case took place under the auspices of the Specialized Criminal Court — which was created in 2008, ostensibly to conduct trials against suspected terrorists.