US–Saudi Dual Citizen Jailed Over Anti-Regime Tweets Returns to Florida After Four-Year Ordeal

A US–Saudi dual national imprisoned in Saudi Arabia for tweets critical of the kingdom has finally returned home to Florida, ending a four-year saga that drew international attention and diplomatic pressure.

Seventy-five-year-old Saad Ibrahim Almadi, a retired engineer, was detained in 2021 after landing in Riyadh to visit family. Saudi authorities later charged him with attempting to destabilise the state and supporting terrorism—accusations his family and rights groups said were based entirely on social media posts.

His son, Ibrahim, announced that Mr Almadi’s return was secured through efforts led by President Donald Trump and his administration. The development came just a day after Trump hosted Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman (MBS) at the White House.

Mr Almadi was initially sentenced to 16 years in prison, a term that an appeals court raised to 19 years. Although he was released early in 2023, he remained barred from leaving the kingdom until this week.

The Almadi family said on Wednesday that they were “overjoyed” to see their father’s ordeal come to an end. They expressed gratitude to the Trump administration, the National Security Council, and the US State Department, praising what they described as “tireless efforts” to secure his return.

“This case has always been about free speech,” the family said. They also acknowledged journalists Josh Rogin of The Washington Post and Steven Nelson of The New York Post for elevating Mr Almadi’s case globally.

The family noted that Mr Almadi was already airborne from Riyadh shortly after Trump and MBS appeared together on stage at a high-profile investment forum in Washington, DC.

Earlier this year, Ibrahim Almadi shared a photograph with Sebastian Gorka, deputy assistant to the president on national security, saying MBS’s entry into the US this week was “contingent upon the safe return” of his father.

The prosecution’s case against Mr Almadi rested on 14 tweets. BBC News previously reviewed the posts, which included criticism of redevelopment projects in Mecca and Jeddah, commentary on poverty, and references to the 2018 murder of journalist Jamal Khashoggi.

During Trump’s recent meeting with MBS, the president publicly defended the crown prince, insisting he “knew nothing” about the killing—contradicting a 2021 US intelligence assessment that concluded MBS had approved the operation that resulted in Khashoggi’s death inside the Saudi consulate in Istanbul.

The family urged continued advocacy for others still detained abroad, saying their own experience should serve as a reminder of the cost of speaking out under repressive regimes.