The Riyadh criminal court sentenced on Tuesday a Saudi owner of a satellite channel — and a TV presenter himself — to 12 years in jail and banned him from leaving the country for 20 years thereafter.
He was convicted for attempting to instigate social unrest and undermining the authority of the state and its institutions. He had claimed that terrorism and Al-Qaeda are made in, and exported by, Saudi Arabia, besides claiming that the Kingdom humiliates its citizens and deprives them of their rights.
In addition, he had contacted a party hostile to the Kingdom and received an amount of $1.038 million, whose origin was suspect.
The first instance ruling also convicted the defendant with falsely attacking the ruler of the land and rebelling against him through a TV program that was broadcast from Egypt. He also used to produce, store and send sections of that program through the Web, an action that adversely affects public order in the Kingdom.
The ruling listed the serious crimes committed by the defendant, which it said can have very devastating effects on the people and the land.
Therefore, the ruling said, it was decided that the defendant be jailed for 12 years, effective from the date his detention period of five years comes to an end on charges of failure to meet financial obligations.
He has also been banned from appearing in the media. The ruling allowed the defendant to appeal the decision within 30 days as per regulations. If he fails to submit the appeal motion within the specified time, the court will send the decision to the Appellate Court for ratification of the verdict.

SOURCE: ARABNEWS.COM