Jeddah: Four Indian expatriates, have completed jail terms for posting religious derogatory remarks on social media, and waiting to be repatriated from Saudi Arabia.
The Indians – two hailing from Uttar Pradesh and each from Punjab and Bihar states, all below 30 years of age – were working in a firm in the Asir region in the Southern part of the country. Three of them made comments while one had recorded it on mobile which surfaced later on a social media platform.
The police arrested all four, who confessed to their crime. The court sentenced them to be deported from the Kingdom following five months and five days jail term and a penalty of a thousand Riyals.
The four completed their jail term in December 2021. However, they failed to pay the fine amount since they do not have any money. As a result, they have been spending more time than actual sentences, according to sources.
The local Saudi authorities, explaining their financial situation, informed about the condition of imprisoned inmates to higher authorities then in turn recently only the penalty amount was waived off and thus set to walk free from jail, sources added.
Some expatriates, who are social media savvy, land into trouble by crossing lines.
In the past, a comment in a WhatsApp group led to the arrest of an Indian who was a senior management executive to spend nearly a year behind bars in the eastern province.
An NRI spent time in jail for appealing through social media for his repatriation.
It’s noteworthy to mention that two Telangana NRIs were sentenced to imprisonment for making religious comments and sharing an image.
Also, some others who created community groups that were found contrary to values also landed in jail.
Of late, there has been a marked increase in the number of offensive, derogatory posts by a few Indians living in Gulf countries. This vitriol can be traced back to an atmosphere of blind hate generated by large sections of the Indian media, particularly TV news channels.
Saudi Arabia shows zero tolerance for the misuse of social media. There will be imprisonment of five years and an SR 3 million fine for producing abusive content, according to the law. Previously authorities have warned that the production, preparation, sending, or storage of anything that would prejudice public order, religious values, public morals, or the sanctity of private life, through the information network, or a computer, indicating that: The perpetrator shall be liable to imprisonment for up to 5 years and a fine of up to 3 million riyals, or one of these two penalties.
| Posted by Sameer Khan | 
