Hamza Kashgari, a 23-year-old columnist, sparked outrage in the oil-rich kingdom with comments posted on the Prophet's birthday a week ago that led some Islamic clerics to call for him to face the death penalty.

Kashgari fled the country, but was arrested by police in majority-Muslim Malaysia on Thursday as he transited through Kuala Lumpur international airport.

"The Saudi writer was repatriated to his home country this Sunday morning," a police spokesman told Reuters. "This is an internal Saudi matter that we cannot comment on."

Malaysia has a close affinity with many Middle Eastern nations through their shared religion. The Southeast Asian nation is also a U.S. ally and a leading global voice for moderate Islam, meaning that the decision to extradite Kashgari is certain to be controversial.

"Saudi clerics have already made up their mind that Kashgari is an apostate who must face punishment," Christoph Wilcke, senior Middle East researcher at Human Rights Watch, said in a statement on Friday.

"The Malaysian government should not be complicit in sealing Kashgari's fate by sending him back."

Kashgari's lawyer in Malaysia, Mohammad Noor, told Reuters by telephone that he had obtained a court order to prevent the deportation, but had not been allowed to see his client.

"If the government of Malaysia deports him to Saudi Arabia, disrespecting the court order, this is clearly contempt of court, unlawful and unacceptable," he said.

The Star newspaper quoted Home Minister Hishammuddin Hussein as saying that Kashgari had been repatriated and that the charges against him would be decided by Saudi authorities.

"Malaysia has a longstanding arrangement by which individuals wanted by one country are extradited when detained by the other," he was quoted as saying.

Blasphemy is a crime punishable by execution under Saudi Arabia's strict interpretation of Islamic sharia law. It is not a capital crime in Malaysia.

Reuters could not verify Kashgari's comments because he later deleted them, but media reported that one of them reflected his contradictory views of the Prophet - that he both loved and hated him.

Kashgari later said in an interview that he was being made a "scapegoat for a larger conflict" over his comments.

Migrant maids are getting treated like animals in SAUDI ARABIA and LEBANON, Many of these workers are getting abused, beaten, raped and even killed. Some try to commit suicide if they fail to kill themselves their horror continues, They passports get taken and they have nowhere to go for help nobody wants to help them there are nobody whos willing to help them. Most of them come from poor countries and corrupt government, they are neglected and are treated like they are nothing. Where is the human right? Where is women's right? How long is this going to last and why is the west turning a blind eye?

https://www.jpost.com/Middle-East/Trapped-by-the-system-Ethiopian-workers-in-Lebanon-see-no-freedom-542715

https://www.phnompenhpost.com/national-post-depth/cambodian-maid-abused-and-treated-slave-13-years-saudi-arabia

http://www.atimes.com/article/underage-maid-saudi-arabia-allegedly-abused-starved/

https://www.theatlantic.com/international/archive/2010/12/trapped-in-lebanon-foreign-domestic-workers-with-no-rights-or-way-home/67479/

THIS NEEDS TO STOP

BBC 30 June 2013

A court in Saudi Arabia has sentenced seven cyber activists to between five to 10 years in prison for inciting protests, mainly by using Facebook.

The men were arrested in September last year, according to Human Rights Watch (HRW), and their trial began in April.

They were charged with posting online messages to encourage protests, although they were not accused of directly taking part in demonstrations.

It is seen as the country's latest move against online political dissent.

Popular revolt

The New York-based rights group HRW said the case was heard in an anti-terrorism court.

The longest sentence of 10 years was reportedly given to an activist who set up two Facebook groups allegedly explaining the best protest techniques.

“Sending people off to years in prison for peaceful Facebook posts sends a strong message that there's no safe way to speak out in Saudi Arabia”

Joe Stork
Human Rights Watch

The rights group said the men had all admitted contributing to Facebook pages supporting the leading Shia cleric Tawfiq al-Amer, who was held in February 2011 after calling for a constitutional monarchy.

His arrest provoked anti-government rallies inspired by a wave of popular revolt in the country's Eastern Region, where much of its crude oil is sourced.

The seven men were sentenced on 24 June for "allegedly inciting protests and harming public order, largely by using Facebook", HRW said.

The court also barred them from travelling for additional periods.

Several of the defendants said they had been tortured into signing confessions, according to HRW.

The case contained two elements that the Saudi authorities are particularly sensitive about, the BBC World Service's Middle East editor Sebastian Usher reports - political criticism expressed online and protests staged by the Shia minority in the east of the country.

Several Saudi human rights campaigners have recently been imprisoned. Two women were jailed earlier in June for allegedly inciting a woman against her husband, after they tried to help a Canadian who had complained of abuse by her Saudi husband.

HRW urged European Union officials to condemn the latest convictions ahead of a meeting with Gulf leaders on Sunday.

"Sending people off to years in prison for peaceful Facebook posts sends a strong message that there's no safe way to speak out in Saudi Arabia, even on online social networks," Joe Stork, HRW's deputy Middle East director, said.

Source : BBC
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-23119656
_ _ _ _ _ _

Saudi Arabia: 7 Convicted for Facebook Postings About Protests

HRW JUNE 30, 2013

Men Convicted for Inciting Protests through Facebook

* Saleh bin Abd al-Muhsin bin Ali al-Shaya`:
5 years in prison and 5-year travel ban;

* Hussein bin Salman bin Yasin al-Sulayman:
7 years and 7-year travel ban;

* Mohammed bin Ahmed bin Abd a-Hadi al-Khalifa:
8 years and 8-year travel ban;

* Mostafa bin Haji bin Hussein al-Mujahad:
6 years and 6-year travel ban;

* Hussein bin Ali bin bin Mohammed al-Bathir:
5 years and 5-year travel ban;

* Ali bin Hassan bin Ali al-Hadlaq:
7 years and 7-year travel ban;

* Abd al-Hamid bin Abd al-Muhsin bin Abdullah al-Amer: 10 years and 10-year travel ban.

Source : HRW
http://www.hrw.org/news/2013/06/29/saudi-arabia-7-convicted-facebook-postings-about-protests