Saudi Arabia sentences comedy producer to jail over Netflix cartoon 'endorsing extremist ideas'

A Saudi-American producer is facing prison time over tweets he posted a decade ago and a Netflix cartoon he co-created, both of which the dictatorship claimed promoted homosexuality and extremist ideas. Abdulaziz Almuzaini, who was born in Texas but spent the majority of his life in the kingdom, was sentenced to 13 years in jail last year by a court initially set up to prosecute Al Qaeda terrorists. His punishment, which also includes a 30-year travel ban, was upheld by an appellate court, however he has vowed to exhaust all other avenues of appeal.

The show, Masameer, has been referred to as a Saudi version of South Park due to its tackling of serious societal issues in a humorous way. Almuzaini signed a 5-year deal with Netflix that saw two seasons of the show produced, along with a movie. Despite the court's verdict, none of the show's episodes, even the one which depicts the main character joining ISIS and finding a giant ice cream cone after killing himself, have been pulled. 

The tweets, however, appear to have been the driving factor in his conviction. According to the Wall Street Journal, the court initially found that Almuzaini was "guilty of endorsing extremist ideas and attempting to destabilize the social fabric and national unity." In one 2015 tweet, he wrote, "Nobody can save Palestine but God. Arab countries can barely save themselves." Others supported women's rights, or suggested, "You cannot live in Riyadh unless you get high."

"I never thought it would reach this phase,” Mr. Almuzaini said in a social media video posted, then quickly deleted, per the New York Times. "Especially given that there are people and officials — whom I'm grateful to but won’t mention — who reassured me that the issue didn't deserve all this and to be patient and it will be resolved bureaucratically."

Masameer came about following societal reforms set in motion by Crown Prince Mohammad bin Salman, however the political repression that has existed in the kingdom for decades remained. In an interview with the Arab Gulf States Institute in Washington, co-creator Malik Nejer said he and Almuzaini sought "to address local issues that arise in our society. We try to mock many social issues from the way the government functions to the way certain beliefs are spread through society. We even make fun of ourselves sometimes. That’s basically the purpose of comedy – it is to present things that are disturbing or annoying in real life and learn how to use them for our benefit."