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Saudi Arabia jails cartoonist Mohammed al-Hazza for 23 years for insulting leadership, rights group says
Dubai — A Saudi artist has been sentenced to more than two decades in prison over political cartoons that allegedly insulted the Gulf kingdom’s leadership, his sister and a rights group said this week. The case against Mohammed al-Hazza, 48, adds to concerns about freedom of expression under Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, as Saudi Arabia — the world’s largest crude oil exporter — seeks to open up to tourists and investors after years of isolation.
The father of five was arrested in February 2018 in Saudi Arabia during “a violent raid” in which security forces entered his home and ransacked his studio, the London-based Sanad Human Rights Organization said in a statement.
A court document seen by AFP says the charges against him concern “offensive cartoons” he produced for the Qatari newspaper Lusail as well as social media posts that were allegedly “hostile” to Saudi Arabia and supportive of Qatar.
Hazza’s arrest came less than a year after Saudi Arabia and several allies cut ties with Qatar, claiming it supported extremists and was too close to Iran — allegations that Doha denied. The countries mended ties in January 2021.
Saudi Arabia’s secretive Specialized Criminal Court, set up in 2008 to deal with terrorism-related cases, initially sentenced Hazza to six years in prison. But this year, as Hazza was preparing to be released, the case was re-opened and he was sentenced to 23 years, his sister Asrar al-Hazza told AFP by phone from the United States.
“He was almost there… He almost left the prison. But then out of nowhere it was opened again and it was 23 years,” she said.
Saudi authorities did not immediately respond to a request for comment about the case on Wednesday. Sanad said in its statement that Hazza worked for Lusail mostly before the 2017 boycott “and only briefly afterward” and that most of his cartoons concerned domestic Qatari issues.
The group said prosecutors failed to provide evidence of cartoons that were offensive to Saudi Arabia or social media posts that backed Qatar during the boycott.
Under Crown Prince bin Salman, Saudi Arabia has been criticized for what activists describe as a fierce crackdown on even vaguely critical online speech and on any form of dissent.
Pushed by CBS News’ Norah O’Donnell over the jailing of a prominent women’s rights activist in a 2019 interview for 60 Minutes, bin Salman said, “there are laws in Saudi Arabia that must be respected, whether or not we agree with them, whether I personally agree with them or not.”
Over the past two years the Saudi judiciary has “convicted and handed down lengthy prison terms on dozens of individuals for their expression on social media,” human rights groups Amnesty International and ALQST said in April.
Saudi officials say the accused cartoonist committed terrorism-related offenses.
“The case of Mohammed al-Hazza is one example of the suppression of freedom of expression in Saudi Arabia, which has not spared anyone, including artists,” Sanad operations manager Samer Alshumrani told AFP. “This is supported by the politicized, non-independent judiciary in Saudi Arabia.”
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White blobs washing up on Newfoundland beaches stump experts and worry resident beachcombers
Toronto — Beaches across Canada’s far northeast Newfoundland and Labrador province have increasingly been littered with mysterious white blobs. Their appearance has so far befuddled scientists, and led Canadian officials in the region to launch an investigation.
Beachgoers first noticed the unusual blobs on the shores of Newfoundland and Labrador in September. People quickly started sharing photos of the gelatinous clumps on a Facebook group with more than 40,000 members that is dedicated to exploring the region’s coastal areas.
“Anyone know what these blobs are. They are like touton dough and all over the beach,” wrote Philip Grace on the Beachcombers Facebook group, comparing the finds to a regional dish. “These were in sizes ranging from dinner plate size right down to a toonie [Canadian 2-dollar coin].”
Some people speculated online that the mystery blobs could be the result of ships dumping substances into the ocean. Others suggested they could be whale sperm, whale vomit or even ambergris, a byproduct of sperm whales that’s valued for its use in perfumes and other products.
Environment and Climate Change Canada
But the experts weren’t to be dragged into the speculation.
Environment and Climate Change Canada, the government agency responsible for investigating the mystery, simply referred to the blobs as “a mystery substance” when asked by CBS News on Tuesday.
Newfoundland resident David McGrath told The Guardian newspaper that he’d seen hundreds of the items scattered across his local beaches.
“They looked just like a pancake before you flip it over, when it has those dimpled little bubbles. I poked a couple with a stick and they were spongy and firm inside,” he told the newspaper. “I’ve lived here for 67 years, and I’ve never seen anything like this. Never.”
Environment and Climate Change Canada
“They sent the Coast Guard over and I asked them how bad it was. They told me they had 28 miles of coastline littered with this stuff and had no idea what it was,” McGrath said. “Is it toxic? It is safe for people to touch?”
Samantha Bayard, a spokesperson for Environment and Climate Change Canada, told CBS News the agency was first informed about the “mystery substance” on beaches on Sept. 7. Environmental emergency officers visited sites at least three times to assess the situation and collect samples.
“To date, ECCC has conducted several aerial, underwater and manual surveys of the beaches and shorelines in the area to determine the extent of the substance, what it is and its potential source,” she said. “At this time, neither the substance nor its source has been identified.”
Bayard said a preliminary laboratory analysis by the agency suggested the material “could be plant-based,” but stressed that additional analysis was required “before a final determination can be made on the substance and its potential impacts.”
Stan Tobin, a local environmentalist, told CBS News’ partner network BBC News that he’d found “hundreds and hundreds of blobs — big blobs, little blobs.”
“Somebody or somebodies know where this came from and how it got there, and knows damn well it’s not supposed to be here,” Tobin told the BBC.
Bayard said the ECCC was committed to addressing pollution incidents and environmental threats with urgency.
“If enforcement officers find evidence of a possible violation of federal environmental legislation, they will take appropriate action in accordance with the applicable Compliance and Enforcement Policy,” she told CBS News.
