The ex-twitter employee has been sentenced to 3.5 years in prison by a court in California. The 45-year-old, Ahmad Abouammo, was convicted of sharing personal information of Saudi twitter users with the kingdom. Defence attorney Angela Chuang also revealed that Abouammo had received $100,000 in cash and a watch worth $40,000 from someone close to the Saudi Crown prince.
Foreign Government Agent
According to a copy of the verdict, Ahmad Abouammo was found guilty in August on charges of fraud, money laundering, and acting unlawfully as a foreign government agent. Abouammo used to gather personal information of twitter users critical of the Saudi government, like email addresses, phone numbers and birth dates. The information was later shared with the Saudi royal family.
Silencing The Critics
The Saudi government has been regularly accused of silencing its critics. In 2018, the Saudi crown prince was accused of assassinating The Washington Post journalist, Jamal Khashoggi, in the Saudi consulate in Turkiye.
