Saudi Arabia imprisoned an aid worker for running an anti-government Twitter page. His sister says it shows MBS is testing Biden’s pledge to be tough on the kingdom.

Saudi Arabia imprisoned an aid worker for running an anti-government Twitter page. His sister says it shows MBS is testing Biden’s pledge to be tough on the kingdom.

Saudi Arabia on Tuesday sentenced an aid worker to 20 years in prison for running a Twitter account that he used to mock Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman “” known also as MBS “” and his government.

Abdulrahman al-Sadhan, 37, was seized by Saudi secret police in March 2018 at the offices of the Saudi Red Crescent, an aid agency where he worked in Riyadh. He was sentenced by a specialist Saudi terror court but the specific charges remain undisclosed.

He also faces a 20-year travel ban after imprisonment.

His sister, Areej al-Sadhan, a US citizen who works in the Bay Area tech industry, told Insider that her brother's sentencing is a clear sign that MBS is testing President Joe Biden's promise to bring the Saudi leadership to heel over human-rights abuses.

In the two years leading up to his election, Biden talked tough on Saudi Arabia, promising in late 2019 to make the country's leaders "the pariah they are" for silencing opposition and violating human rights. 

But Areej al-Sadhan told Insider her brother's sentence shows Saudi Arabia has no intention of letting the US dictate its internal affairs.

"Clearly the Saudis are testing President Biden's commitment to the human rights first approach in Saudi Arabia,"