A Saudi Arabian court has jailed a lawyer for 15 years for his anti-government activities, a media report said Monday.
The unnamed Saudi national was convicted of trying to unseat the government, abusing the judicial system, mobilising the support of international organisations against the Gulf nation and giving statements that tarnish its image by a criminal court in Saudi Arabia's coastal Jeddah city Sunday, Arab News reported.
The court fined him for 200,000 Saudi riyals (over $53,300) and imposed a travel ban on him for 15 years.
The court also blocked the website run by the accused for its alleged anti-national activities, on the basis of Article 13 of the country's Information Crimes Law.
The court issued its verdict on the basis of Article 21 of the Terrorism and Terror Funding Law and Article 6 of the Information Crimes Law, the report said.
The defendant was also charged with formation of an unlicensed society and becoming its president to issue false statements against Saudi Arabia.
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The public prosecutor opposed the verdict and the judge gave him a copy of the verdict for appeal within 30 days.
According to a CNN news report, the man has identified as prominent Saudi lawyer and reform advocate Waleed Abulkhair, who called for government reforms, the release of political prisoners and the expansion of women's rights in Saudi Arabia.
In May this year, Saudi Arabian blogger Raif Badawi was sentenced to 10 years in prison and 1,000 lashes by a country's court for insulting Islam.