Ex-Makkah Grand Mosque imam gets 10 years’ jail

Sheikh Saleh Al Talib, a former notable imam at the Grand Mosque in Makkah, has been sentenced to 10 years in prison by Saudi Arabia’s Courts of Appeal.

The Organization for Democracy in the Arab World (DAWN) on August 22 confirmed that the specialized criminal Appeals Court in Riyadh sentenced him to 10 years in prison after repealing his past ruling of acquittal, reports The Siasat Daily.

The Prisoners of Conscience account on Twitter, which works to report news of Saudi detainees, also confirmed that Sheikh Saleh Al Talib’s release ruling had been revoked and he had been handed down a 10-year sentence.

The former imam of the Grand Mosque was arrested in August 2018 as the Saudi authorities were arresting certain preachers as part of a campaign back then.

However, they did not issue any official explanation for his arrest.

Sheikh Saleh Al Talib was arrested after he reportedly gave a sermon denouncing mixed public gatherings.

He criticized concerts and events that strayed from the country’s cultural and religious “standards”.

He might not have criticized the Saudi royal family in his speeches, but the kingdom since 2018 has been easing laws on female attendance at public events.

Talib’s English and Arabic Twitter accounts were deactivated hours after his reported arrest in 2018.

Talib has a worldwide following alongside thousands of people viewing his sermons and Quran recitations on YouTube.

His family goes back to Huwtat Bani Taimi, from Hawtat Bani Tamim, which is a historic family in the Arabian Peninsula renowned for their brilliance in the sciences, judiciary, Sharia sciences and the Quran.

Sheikh Al-Talib worked as a judge in the high and urgent court in Riyadh, as well as in courts in other governorates, and was a judge in the Great Court in Makkah Al-Mukarramah for three years, until his arrest four years ago.

Dozens of imams, women’s rights activists and members of the ruling royal family have been detained since Mohammed bin Salman (MBS) was crowned the Saudi crown prince in 2017.

Among the arrested are prominent Islamic preachers Salman al-Awdah, Awad al-Qarni, Farhan al-Malki, Mostafa Hassan and Safar al-Hawali.

A Saudi appeals court increased the sentence of Saudi citizen Salma Al-Shehab in August from six years in prison to 34 years, followed by a 34-year travel ban, due to tweets of unity with Prisoners of Conscience.