The pro-government Okaz newspaper and other media close to the Saudi government reported, without offering any details, that Awda was among more than 20 people arrested in September 2017 in a wide crackdown on dissent in the ultra-conservative kingdom.

 “Reports that Saudi prosecutors are seeking the death penalty against prominent Saudi cleric Salman al-Awda,” tweeted Adam Coogle, Middle East researcher at Human Rights Watch. “Bringing the death penalty into a case like this is a major escalation in the level of repression,” he added.

Awda was hospitalised in the western city of Jeddah after almost five months in solitary confinement, Amnesty International said in January, citing family members. The rights group said his family had been denied any contact with him.  Amnesty said Awda was arrested a few hours after posting a tweet welcoming reports of a possible reconciliation between Saudi Arabia and neighboring Qatar.

According to his family, the Saudi authorities had demanded that Awda and other prominent figures publicly back the kingdom in the dispute but he refused.