MBS once sought advice from this cleric. Now Saudi prosecutors want him executed

[Mr.Espinoza ♔♔♔]

 

Sheikh Salman al-Awda, 62, is considered one of the most prominent clerics in Saudi Arabia. He was imprisoned in the repression of dissent, and faces the death penalty.
(CNN) Sheikh Salman al-Awda waited at his home in Riyadh for Prince Mohammed bin Salman. It was 2012 and the charismatic preacher received the 27-year-old prince with little fanfare.

"We didn't think the visit was a big problem," recalled Awda's son, Abdullah Alaoudh, a Washington-based legal scholar at Georgetown University. "He was just a regular prince."
Despite his obvious ambition, bin Salman was considered a political novice. His father was the governor of Riyadh and was not yet king, and, in the eyes of the country's political class, he was just another member of the royal family of thousands of people from Saudi Arabia. The prince, who would later be known by his initials, MBS, was enthusiastic about Awda's ideas for change in Saudi Arabia, according to Alaoudh.
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According to Awda's son, at this meeting and at least two other meetings to come, including one in the royal court along with the future King Salman - Awda, who was 55 at the time, extolled the virtues of the reform and inclusive government.
Five years later, King Salman appointed his son as the crown prince. Three months after the MBS promotion, Awda was arrested as part of a repression supervised by a security agency established by the recently anointed heir to the throne.

 

After a year of pre-trial detention, in September 2018, Saudi Arabia's General Prosecutor presented Awda with a list of 37 charges and recommended the death penalty. This Sunday, the cleric will return to court, where the judge may decide on whether to make a ruling in the case, and if found guilty, sentenced, according to his family.
The cleric has spent nearly two years in solitary confinement, his son told CNN. For the first few months of his detention, "his legs were shackled and he was handcuffed. The prison guards used to throw his meals at him," said Alaoudh.
Awda was held incommunicado for the first six months of his arrest. When his family was finally allowed to visit him, I've told them that he was frequently deprived of sleep and food, Alaoudh added.
He eventually signed documents, likely forced confessions, that he could no longer understand because of his poor mental and physical state, according to his son. His father told the family that he "signed some documents but had no idea what they said."
Saudi Arabia has frequently been accused of making prisoners sign confessions under duress.
Alaoudh's blood pressure shot up, and so did his cholesterol levels. He was hospitalized for a few days, according to his son. "It felt to him like a slow death," said Alaoudh.