RIYADH — Saudi Arabia’s Public Prosecution has issued an order to summon a group of Twitter users and others who have been charged with criminal offenses of harming public order "by influencing the integrity and moderation of the intellectual curriculum of the society with harmful participation that took the seriousness of extremism leading to the misguided campaign of thought."
Judicial officials also confirmed that those who were summoned are under processing for criminal indictment and will be subject to the legal procedures, Saudi Press Agency (SPA) reported.
Saudi Attorney General Sheikh Saud Bin Abdullah Al-Muajab affirmed that any publication, material, performance and action that carries and conveys content harmful to society — regardless of its material, pretexts and means of publication — will be charged by the prosecution according to the legal and regulatory requirements.
This includes media publications, books, social media, lectures and speeches.
The attorney general noted the importance of the commitment, which requires the Public Prosecution to track it whenever it exceeds the limits of legitimacy and wide-ranging freedom, to cause harmful acts threatening the moderate society to turn it into a community of extremism, including the incitement of hatred, sectarianism, ideological and sectarian classification and attempts to mislead public opinion.
He added that the Public Prosecution, while stressing this, is also fully aware of respect for freedom of opinion and protection of its legitimate immunity which is enriched by its contribution and constructive criticism at "national, scientific, educational and intellectual" levels.
The move is based on the general authority that the Public Prosecution has, which allows it to activate action in cases related to all crimes. — Al Arabiya English/SG
