Dubai, United Arab Emirates (CNN) – Activists on social media interacted with videos attributed to Nasser, the son of the Saudi Islamic preacher, Awad Al-Qarni, in which he claimed that he was able to leave the Kingdom to defend his father, as he put it.
Activists circulated video clips of Awad al-Qarni and statements he made on a number of issues, such as what he said about the Muslim Brotherhood, the Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant or what is known as “ISIS” and Jabhat al-Nusra, al-Qaeda’s branch in Syria, and other issues.
CNN in Arabic contacted the Saudi authorities to comment on Nasser’s claim of leaving the kingdom without a response at the time of writing this report.
It is noteworthy that Human Rights Watch had stated in a 2017 report that the authorities in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia had arrested a number of clerics, including preacher Salman al-Awda and Awad al-Qarni.
The organization added in its report: “Al-Awda and Al-Qarni were prominent members of the Awakening movement in the early nineties,” noting that “Al-Awda, since 2011, has called for more democracy and social tolerance, while Al-Qarni announced in March that the authorities prevented him from writing after his conviction harming public order.”