Saudi leader's entourage includes official implicated in Twitter spy plot

"A senior official in Mohammed bin Salman's entourage, who is understood to be accompanying the crown prince on his first trip back to the US in over a decade, has previously been accused by US prosecutors of playing a central role in a conspiracy to infiltrate Twitter and identify users who were posting critically about the Saudi regime. Bader al-Asaker, who has headed Prince Mohammed's private office since before he became crown prince,"

"The infiltration ultimately led to the forced disappearance of at least one Saudi man Abdulrahman al-Sadhan who was later sentenced to 20 years in jail for using a satirical and anonymous Twitter account to mock the Riyadh government. The extraordinary campaign to send spies into the heart of a major US company was seen as a key example of how the Saudi state has been able to use a variety of methods to conduct transnational repression, silencing and intimidating critics of Prince Mohammed's rule"

"Prince Mohammed has been recognised by the US legal system as having sovereign immunity protection since he was named prime minister of Saudi Arabia in 2022. The decision meant that legal cases against the crown prince, including a wrongful death civil case brought against him by the wife of Jamal Khashoggi, the Washington Post columnist who was murdered by Saudi agents, were dismissed. A US intelligence assessment, which was published by the Biden administration in 2021, concluded that Prince Mohammed had ordered the hit."

Bader al-Asaker, longtime head of Mohammed bin Salman's private office, is accused by US prosecutors of orchestrating a 2014–15 conspiracy to infiltrate Twitter/X and identify users critical of the Saudi regime. The operation contributed to the forced disappearance and later 20-year imprisonment of Abdulrahman al-Sadhan, who ran an anonymous satirical account. The campaign exemplifies Saudi transnational repression through espionage and intimidation of dissidents abroad. Prince Mohammed obtained sovereign immunity after his 2022 appointment as prime minister, prompting dismissal of legal cases including a wrongful-death suit related to Jamal Khashoggi, despite a US intelligence finding he ordered the killing.

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