10-year jail for creating radical website in Saudi

Persons setting up radical websites in Saudi Arabia will be jailed for up to 10 years and fined SR10 million under a new law aimed at combating terror, a local newspaper reported on Thursday.

Alhiad quoted a Saudi interior ministry official as saying internet now has a great influence on people after it rapidly spread through the Gulf Kingdom, with the number of users exceeding 10 million.

“Saudi Arabia is now enforcing a new law involving jail terms of five to 10 years and a fine of up to SR10 million against those who set up extremist websites,” said Dr Abdul Rahman Al Hadlaq, director of the intellectual security department at the Saudi ministry of interior.

“We have hit hard at all outlets selling video tapes and other cassettes inciting violence and radicalism….this drive has forced those sellers to switch their activity to internet which has become like an open university where they learn extremism and making bombs.”

Hadlaq said radical websites set up in Saudi Arabia and targeting young local and Arab men use servers based in Western countries, mainly in the United States.

“There should be a concerted effort by all nations to block these sites and stop all types of contacts among extremists and terrorists.”

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