From Netflix fame to Saudi cell: Animator faces 13 yrs in prison for tweets

A Saudi court sentenced the Netflix animator to 13 years in prison and imposed a 30-year travel ban for tweets posted over a decade ago

Saudi Arabia has been nurturing local talent such as Abdulaziz Almuzaini, whose Riyadh-based animation studio produces shows for Netflix that reflect the kingdom's modern vision. However, the same country has now convicted him as a terrorist, reported the Wall Street Journal.

Almuzaini, born in Texas and holding United States citizenship, revealed last week that a secret Saudi court originally set up to try al Qaeda militants sentenced him to 13 years in prison and a 30-year travel ban for tweets he posted over a decade ago. These tweets mocked Arab regimes and supported women’s rights. For example, in 2015, he tweeted, “Nobody can save Palestine but God. Arab countries can barely save themselves,” and in 2014, “You cannot live in Riyadh unless you get high.”

 

His irreverence earned his Myrkott Animation Studio a five-year partnership with Netflix in 2020, making Saudi content available worldwide. Netflix has since aired two seasons of his show ‘Masameer County’ and a feature film.

However, Saudi prosecutors saw his tweets as attempts to destabilise society and spread harmful content. Despite Almuzaini’s denial and claims that the tweets were sarcastic or aligned with current Saudi policies, the court convicted him in July 2023, a decision upheld on appeal in April, with a final appeal pending.

 

Contradictions under reforms

Almuzaini’s situation highlights the contradiction of life in Saudi Arabia under Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman's reforms. While social restrictions in Saudi Arabia have eased, the country remains an autocracy with powerful security agencies. The Specialized Criminal Court has sentenced many government critics since 2017, including women's rights activists and liberal writers.

For instance, Abdulrahman al-Sadhan, a US-educated aid worker, was sentenced to 20 years in prison in 2021 based on tweets critical of the government. Similarly, social media posts have led to extreme sentences for two ordinary Saudi women and a retired teacher.

Saudi officials did not comment on Almuzaini’s case. However, Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman acknowledged the issue of severe punishments for critical tweets, stating that his government was "doing its best" to change the situation and that it would take time.

 

Almuzaini hopes for a resolution

Almuzaini, who still resides in Riyadh despite his conviction, hopes for a resolution to continue living and working in the kingdom. “I’m pro-Saudi,” he said, adding, “I love my country. I wish for more openness. I think we should do more.”

Interestingly, despite his conviction, Saudi authorities have not asked Netflix to remove any of his content. The State Department is monitoring Almuzaini’s case to ensure a fair legal process.

In a video, Almuzaini accused a state media regulator employee of misinterpreting comedic scenes from his show to build a national security complaint against him, pressuring him to work with a Saudi broadcaster instead of Netflix.

International criticism and reforms
 

International criticism of Saudi Arabia’s crackdown on dissent, heightened by the 2018 murder of journalist Jamal Khashoggi, has waned after US President Joe Biden met with Prince Mohammed in 2022. Since then, Saudi Arabia has focused on attracting foreign investment and enhancing its global role.

On the other hand, Almuzaini’s commercial success has been crucial for Saudi Arabia’s growing film industry. Yet, his secret trial raises concerns about the risks creatives face in the kingdom. “If even being sort of a fellow traveller with the direction the state wants to go isn’t enough to secure your position, then it definitely raises some questions about the risks that creatives are taking within the kingdom,” Kristin Smith Diwan, a senior resident scholar at the Arab Gulf States Institute in Washington, told the Wall Street Journal.

Rights activists believe high-profile cases like Almuzaini’s would likely be known to Prince Mohammed. “These kinds of things are top-level. MBS is very, very centralised," said Abdullah Alaoudh, senior director for countering authoritarianism at the Middle East Democracy Centre, whose father has been on trial at the same court for over six years.

Almuzaini co-created the ‘Masameer’ franchise in 2010, critiquing religious hardliners and advocating for liberal reforms through animated videos on YouTube. His feature-length ‘Masameer’ film, shown in theatres in 2020 after Saudi Arabia lifted a 35-year cinema ban, has a sequel set to release on Netflix this month.

Misinterpretation shuts down studio

In his video, Almuzaini mentioned that a scene from ‘Masameer County’, depicting the former Islamic State leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, was misinterpreted as promoting jihadist groups. “He’s the only one who reads it that way. I didn’t write it that way at all,” Almuzaini said. “We as Myrkott and I, as the chief executive, are not ISIS nor are we terrorists.”

His terrorism conviction has also jeopardised his promising career, leading to the revocation of Myrkott’s Saudi operating license, the studio’s closure, and the loss of expansion opportunities. “I was forced to close," Almuzaini said. “Myrkott has stopped after all these years, after all this work and exertion.”