From the outside, the past few years have appeared to be the peak of Abdulaziz Almuzaini’s career.
As the head of an animation studio in Saudi Arabia, he signed a five-year deal with Netflix in 2020. A satirical animated series he helped create, “Masameer,” which has been described as a Saudi version of “South Park,” was soon streamed to audiences around the world. And as the conservative Muslim kingdom loosened its grip on the kingdom, Mr. Almuzaini was hailed—just months ago—as one of the homegrown talents shaping its nascent entertainment industry.
Behind the scenes, however, he was tried in an opaque national security court, as Saudi prosecutors – who accused him of promoting extremism through his cartoon series and social media posts – sought to ensure he would be imprisoned or banned from traveling for the rest of his life.
Almuzaini, a dual US-Saudi citizen and father of three, recently described his plight in a video pleading with Saudi Arabia’s leadership to intervene, saying he was awaiting a final ruling from the kingdom’s Supreme Court.
“I may have to bear the consequences of what happens later, and I am ready,” he said in the 18-minute video, which he said was filmed at his home in the Saudi capital.
The video, posted to his social media account late last month and deleted the same day, shows Mr. Almuzaini, with a black beard and silver edges, speaking in front of a wall covered with multicolored sticky notes.
“I have never committed a crime in this kingdom,” he said. “I have never even run a red light.”
Saudi authorities have detained hundreds of citizens in a crackdown on dissent that began in 2017. But Mr Almuzaini’s video is still shocking because he appears to have the support of the Saudi leadership — attending government-sponsored events and hosting brilliant article in state support mediaDespite facing serious charges, he was not jailed, but was banned from leaving the country.
His story is the clearest example yet of the duality of the new Saudi Arabia, as Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, 38, open the kingdom society while digging deeper political repressionIn Mr Almuzaini’s case, those two trends occurred simultaneously, exposing a deep discord at the heart of the kingdom’s transition.
The New York Times was able to verify that a trial took place at the Specialized Criminal Court in Riyadh, where Mr. Almuzaini was convicted last year of supporting extremist ideology, among other charges. He was sentenced to 13 years in prison, followed by a 13-year travel ban outside Saudi Arabia. An appeals court upheld his conviction and prison sentence this year, and extended his travel ban to 30 years.
The Saudi government’s International Media Center did not respond to a request for comment. Mr. Almuzaini did not respond to an interview request. His lawyer could not be reached. Netflix declined to comment.
The US State Department said in a statement to The Times that it had been following Mr Almuzaini’s case, adding, “Our embassies and consulates want to ensure that US citizens abroad are subject to a fair and transparent legal process.”
The prosecutors’ charges relate to television content Mr Almuzaini produced and social media posts he wrote a decade ago, when public speech in Saudi Arabia was less restricted.
“I never thought it would get to this stage,” Mr. Almuzaini said in his video. “Especially when there were people and officials — people I am grateful to but will not mention — who reassured me that this was not the case and to be patient and it would be resolved administratively.”
Since Crown Prince Mohammed came to power in 2015, he has significantly eased social restrictions in Saudi Arabia — end ban on women drivingweaken the religious police and invest heavily in new areas such as entertainment and travelHe also presided over widespread political repression, culminating with the the 2018 murder of Saudi writer Jamal Khashoggi — a columnist critical of the monarchy in The Washington Post — by Saudi spies in Istanbul.
Prince Mohammed’s advisers and supporters have sometimes argued that an iron fist is needed to guide the country through a period of tumultuous change. But Mr. Almuzaini’s case, along with others like it, raises questions about how the kingdom nurtures art, creativity and entrepreneurship—key components of the prince’s plans—while curtailing freedom of expression.
“Masameer” started appearing on YouTube more than a decade ago, when real theaters were banned and filmmaking was largely underground.
Through its deliberately absurd storyline, the show—silly, dark and sometimes profane—criticizes aspects of life in the conservative Muslim kingdom.
IN an interview in 2017“We try to poke fun at a lot of social issues, from how the government works to how certain beliefs are spread in society,” says Malik Nejer, co-creator of the show.
“Sometimes we even make fun of ourselves,” he added.
From its early years, the ideology of “Masameer” was socially liberal, with plots mocking the classism, discrimination against women, and religious restrictions that deeply affected life in Saudi Arabia at the time.
During the country’s rapid transition under Crown Prince Mohammed, the government appeared to support Mr Almuzaini’s work, even as he faced trial at the same time.
Last year, after being convicted and sentenced, he attended a gala organized by state agencies, where officials honor Saudi creators. Since 2021, Riyadh Boulevard—a government-run entertainment complex in the kingdom’s capital—has hosted theme park rides and events designed around “Masameer” characters. And a few months ago, as he continued to appeal the rulings, Mr. Almuzaini was hosted by a Saudi state television program to discuss the kingdom’s film industry.
This episode celebrates the spread of Saudi content to international audiences, with a voice declared“We will tell our own stories, by ourselves, and convey them to the world through our stories.”
Several TV series and two films from the “Masameer” franchise are still available on Netflix in Saudi Arabia. Mr. Almuzaini’s animation studio, Myrkott, is in the midst of a five-year partnership with the streaming service, which was signed in 2020.
According to Mr. Almuzaini’s video, some of the charges he faces are related to an episode of “Masameer County,” a Netflix spinoff show that was released in 2021.
The episode tells the story of a rich, pampered, lonely man named Bandar who develops a craving for ice cream late at night. He goes in search of it, only to be beaten, thrown into the desert, and captured by a group of jihadists. He joins the Islamic State terrorist group, and at the end of the episode, a helicopter he’s riding in explodes, sending him into a dreamlike scene where he finds a magnificent ice cream cone.
The episode openly insults jihadists, depicting Islamic State leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, people who died in 2019is a flirtatious man with a harem of women.
But the Saudi officials pursuing Mr Almuzaini took it to mean that “if you go fight with the Islamic State and you die like Bandar in the ice cream episode, you will go to heaven,” Mr Almuzaini said in his video. “I don’t know how they read it that way.”
In the video, Mr Almuzaini pleaded for help from Prince Mohammed, saying he had sought to resolve his case through various means before going public.
Mr Almuzaini’s troubles began in 2021, when an official in Saudi Arabia’s media agency began investigating him and his animation studio for regulatory violations including “support for terrorism and homosexuality”, Mr Almuzaini said in the video.
What started as a legal matter has turned into a criminal trial. In addition to the “Masameer” content claims, prosecutors have referred to social media posts Mr. Almuzaini made between 2010 and 2014, he said in the video.
Mr Almuzaini ended the video by saying he had recently had to close his animation studio and lay off staff. But he still had faith in the kingdom’s “wise government” and was confident he would win his rights, he added.
After the video was deleted, Mr. Almuzaini appeared to remain at large. He continued. post on social mediaincluding Tuesday.
In one second videoIn a statement posted on Sunday, Mr. Almuzaini stressed his loyalty to the Saudi kingdom and its rulers, adding that he had no desire to go anywhere else.
“I will live in this country,” he said. “And God willing, I will die in this country.”
