Support for accused spy
SEATTLE: Family and friends of a former Twitter employee accused of spying for Saudi Arabia call him a dedicated husband and father who has overcome recent mental health struggles, according to letters of support filed in federal court.
Ahmad Abouammo, a US citizen and a media partnership manager for Twitter’s Middle East region, is charged with acting as an agent of
Saudi Arabia without registering with the US government.
The case marks the first time the kingdom, long linked to the US through its massive oil reserves and regional security arrangements, has been accused of spying in America.
The seven letters – four from family members, including Abouammo’s wife, and three from former co-workers – were filed on Thursday ahead of the hearing.
The letters paint a portrait of a kind, caring man who is needed at home to support his family and friends.
Roy Abdo, who worked with Abouammo at the Middle East Broadcasting Networks, urged the court to doublecheck the facts.
“Knowing Ahmad’s personality, work ethics, and having worked with him on a personal level for over two years, something seems not right about this,” Abdo wrote. Judge Paula L McCandlis on Friday ordered Abouammo released on bail with GPS monitoring, a mental health evaluation and travel restrictions. His release was temporarily put on hold because prosecutors said they planned to file an appeal.
Abouammo’s lawyer Christopher Black said during the hearing Abouammo’s wife, sister, uncle and a good friend were in court and Abouammo is not a flight risk because he has no assets, is deeply in debt and surrendered his passports to agents last year.
Prosecutors allege Abouammo and another former Twitter employee, Saudi citizen Ali Alzabarah, were rewarded by Saudi royal officials with a designer watch and tens of thousands of dollars funnelled into secret bank accounts. Alzabarah and a third suspect, a Saudi named Ahmed
Almutairi who worked as a social media adviser for the Saudi royal family and acted as an intermediary with the Twitter employees, are believed to be in Saudi Arabia. Both are wanted by the FBI.
The federal complaint unsealed in US District Court in San Francisco, detailed a coordinated effort by Saudi government officials to recruit Twitter employees to look up the private data of accounts.