Key takeaways:
- Saad Ibrahim Almadi, a 72-year-old American citizen, was released from prison in Saudi Arabia after a year of detention for tweets critical of the Saudi government.
- Almadi is currently in Riyadh under a travel ban, and it is unclear whether the kingdom will lift the ban to allow him to return to the US.
- The release of Almadi comes after a long period of imprisonment and uncertainty for the 72-year-old and his family.
On Monday, Saudi Arabia released 72-year-old American citizen Saad Ibrahim Almadi from prison after he had been detained for more than a year. Almadi had been sentenced to 16 years in prison for tweets critical of the Saudi government.
Almadi’s son, Ibrahim, told CNN that his father was released at 2 a.m. local time on Tuesday and is currently in Riyadh under a travel ban. It remains unclear whether the kingdom will lift the travel ban to allow Almadi to return to the US.
The US State Department had previously confirmed Almadi’s imprisonment in October. Neither Saudi nor US officials have yet to confirm Almadi’s release.
Almadi is a dual US-Saudi citizen and, prior to his imprisonment, was a longtime retiree in Florida. He is currently at home with family members who live in Riyadh, according to his son.
The release of Almadi comes after a long period of imprisonment and uncertainty for the 72-year-old and his family. It is yet to be seen whether he will be able to return to the US.
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