Saudi judge on trial over tweets

Manama: A Saudi judge is facing trial for posting tweets, in violation of a rule introduced in 2012.

Under the rule, judges in Saudi Arabia are not allowed to appear in the media or make public comments.

Although the judge’s tweets were reportedly purely religious and posted on his personal account, the Supreme Judicial Council said that an investigation into the case has concluded that he had broken the rules and that he would face trial on August 5, local daily Al Eqtisadiya reported on Tuesday.

According to the report, the probe focused on the tweets posted by the judge and lasted one week.

Sources told the daily that the legal case against the judge for posting tweets was unprecedented although three lawyers have been recently sentenced to pay SR1.25 million in fines for targeting the justice ministry through comments on Twitter.