Fans face up to five years in jail for chanting at Saudi matches
Twelve Saudi Arabian football fans face up to five years in prison and fines of up to three million riyals (£633,000) for chanting at matches.
The Saudi Ministry of Sport has accused the supporters of Al Safa of “expressions of sectarianism”, and a trial begins this week.
More than 150 people were initially brought in for questioning after videos circulated on social media showing supporters singing at games.
The defendants were arrested in January.
However, Saudi human rights group ALQST say the chants in question are “Shia religious songs that are well known among the Shia community” and “do not contain anything sectarian or offensive” – instead celebrating the birthday of Imam Ali, a revered cousin of the Prophet Muhammad.
Al Safa play in the second division and are based in Shia-majority Eastern Province. Across Saudi Arabia as a whole, the majority of people follow Sunni Islam.
Following the incident, the board of directors was dissolved by the ministry. The club has been fined 200,000 riyals and forced to play five matches behind closed doors.
Prosecutors are also pushing to confiscate the phones of the supporters being tried and close their social media accounts, as well as imposing other possible penalties at the judges’ discretion.
ALQST condemned the case and said Saudi authorities were “curtailing the right to free speech in football stadiums”. Saudi Arabia is in line to host the 2034 World Cup and plans to bid for the Women’s World Cup, which will be held the following year.
Documents from the prosecution allege supporters violated the country’s cyber crime law by “sending material prejudicial to public order by means of the internet and electronic devices”.
They are also accused of “prejudicing public order by kindling a spirit of sectarian fanaticism by passing on sectarian content in public gathering places”, in addition to “disturbing national unity” and “co-ordinating the action in advance”, because they belonged to a WhatsApp group for football fans.
A letter signed by the European Saudi Organisation for Human Rights, FairSquare, the International Federation for Human Rights, and Newcastle United Fans Against Sportswashing, condemned the prosecutions.
They wrote: “Saudi Arabia is investing billions of dollars in the domestic and international sports industry – signing celebrity footballers, buying European clubs, and bidding to host prestigious sporting events as part of an image laundering drive to ‘improve international perception of the kingdom’.
“Yet behind the prestige and glamour of its image and sportswashing campaign lies a harsh reality. Freedom of expression, thought and belief are being suppressed in Saudi Arabia to an unprecedented degree.
“It is further evidence that the Saudi authorities are trying to ‘sportswash’ and rehabilitate their image to the world instead of genuinely using the power of sports to ‘open up’ the country for everyone...
“The targeting of Al Safa FC’s supporters is a further step in the unprecedented campaign of repression that the country has been witnessing in recent years under the leadership of Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, and is a blatant violation of freedom of speech, thought and belief.”