Indian man jailed in Saudi Arabia for tweeting against Prophet

As per News 18 report,  a resident of Alappuzha in Kerala, Vishnu Dev Radhakrishnan, 28, was slapped a 10-year jail term and penalty of 1,50,000 Saudi Riyal (approx. Rs 28,50,000) on charges of blasphemy and hurting the sentiments of the Saudi kingdom.

According to reports, he has been undergoing punishment in a Saudi jail since June 2018.

The News Minute reported that on September 13, 2018, he was awarded five years imprisonment in Khobar jail and Saudi Riyal 1,50,000 (approximately Rs 28,50,000) penalty. However, on January 24, 2019, his sentence was increased to 10 years, in addition to the penalty. 

According to the letter from the Consular, Passport and Visa (CPV) Division of the Ministry of External Affairs, to Vishnu Dev’s parents, he has been arrested for his involvement in a case of “cybercrime pertaining to blasphemy and spreading messages against the Kingdom through social media," reported the newspaper.

His father Radhakrishnan Nair said that Vishnu Dev had befriended a Muslim woman in Twitter.

  “During one of their conversations on Twitter, the woman spoke something against lord Shiva. To counter her argument, he tweeted something against prophet Mohammed and asked if her god is merciful, why were Yemen schools bombed,” Radhakrishnan, a former Indian Air Force officer, told The News Minute.

Vishnu Dev was working as an engineer at Nasser S Al-Hajri Corporation.

“The tweets went through Aramco’s server. Vishnu told me that the officials at Aramco might have taken the screenshots of his conversation with the woman and given it to the police,” he told the newspaper.

“The officials at his company told him that he might be deported and detained him there instead of sending him to the Indian Embassy. He was held at the office for 15 days on the assurance that he will be sent back home; but they cheated him,” Radhakrishnan added.

According to a member of Navayugam, a Malayali social organisation in Saudi Arabia’s Dammam that actively helps thousands of Indians, Vishnu Dev escaped rigorous punishment, which may even include beheading, reported The News Minute.

In this case, his nationality came as a saving grace, he told the newspaper.

“Any posts against their religion is a big crime in Saudi Arabia. While the lower court gave him five years imprisonment, the prosecution went for an appeal at the higher court, stating that the punishment is less. So after the trial in the higher court, his sentence was increased to 10 years,” he says. 

Son apologises:

Radhakrishnan told The News Minute that Vishnu Dev did not deny the charges against him. “He told me that he made a mistake and tweeted those lines as a retaliation to the woman’s statements, which abused his god. He said that he apologises to all Muslims in the world for his mistake,” he says.

He adds, “Anybody in our neighbourhood in Kerala would vouch for my son. Even if I raise my voice against someone, he would not like it. That is Vishnu Dev. This arrest will affect his sister’s future alliances for marriage.”

Radjakrishnan had approached External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj and Congress Parliamentarian Shashi Tharorr over the issue.

"@SushmaSwaraj Please help us and do something to get our child Vishnudev passport no. J7442201 released from Saudi Jail. Please consider my case as I am an ex soldier and have served the nation for 21 years. My wife and daughter is [sic] in a depressive mood, kindly hep us," the father had tweeted. (Embed1)