The trial for popular controversial religious scholar Saudi Sheikh Salman Awdah, charged with more than 30 counts of terrorism, was recently postponed. Some analysts suggest the government may have wanted to avoid a high-profile court case at a moment in which Saudi Arabia is manoeuvring to prevent a deterioration of relations with a Biden administration critical of the kingdom’s human rights record, wrote RSIS Senior Fellow Dr. James Dorsey in an article.

…Dr. James M. Dorsey, a non-resident Senior Associate at the BESA Center, is a Senior Fellow at the S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies at Singapore’s Nanyang Technological University and co-director of the University of Würzburg’s Institute for Fan Culture.