Former Imam-e-Kaaba released after 7 years in jail

RIYADH: Saudi officials have released former Imam and Khatib of Al-Masjid al-Haram Sheikh Saleh Al-Talib after over seven years in detention.

Prisoners of Conscience, an organization that monitors the detention of clerics and scholars in the Kingdom, announced his release in a statement on X. Nevertheless, the group reported that Sheikh Al-Talib continues to be under house arrest and is subject to the wearing of an electronic ankle monitor.

Sheikh Al-Talib was arrested in August 2018 after giving a sermon emphasizing the responsibility of Muslims to condemn evil. His words resulted in his arrest. Authorities never publicly announced any charges.

In 2022, Riyadh’s Specialized Criminal Appeals Court sentenced him to 10 years’ imprisonment, reversing a previous acquittal. His release made headlines online, where he has a large following because of his Quran recitations and sermons.

Before his detention, Sheikh Al-Talib was also a judge in Makkah, Riyadh, and other areas of Saudi Arabia. A native of the Huwtat Bani Taimi family of Hawtat Bani Tamim, a clan famous for providing Islamic scholars and judges, he was born on January 23, 1974.

His release comes just a few months after that of teacher Asaad bin Nasser Al-Ghamdi, who had spent over two years imprisoned for posts put up on social media.

Ever since Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman took power in 2017, Saudi officials have ratcheted up their crackdown on opposition, and clerics, professors, activists, and even royals have been arrested and sentenced to many years in prison.