{"database": "press", "table": "releases", "rows": [["https://www.murphy.senate.gov/newsroom/press-releases/murphy-leahy-menendez-van-hollen-wyden-statement-on-sentencing-of-walid-fitaihi-in-saudi-arabia", "Murphy, Leahy, Menendez, Van Hollen, Wyden Statement On Sentencing Of Walid Fitaihi In Saudi ArabiaRead More", "2020-12-10", "2020", "2020-12", "Democrat", "House", "CT", "Christopher Murphy", "M001169", "www.murphy.senate.gov", null, null, "legacy", "Murphy, Leahy, Menendez, Van Hollen, Wyden Statement On Sentencing Of Walid Fitaihi In Saudi Arabia \n        \n        December 10, 2020\n      \n        \n          WASHINGTONU.S.\r\nSenator Chris Murphy (D-Conn.), along with U.S. Senators Patrick Leahy\r\n(D-Vt.), Bob Menendez (D-N.J.), Chris\r\nVan Hollen (D-Md.), and Ron Wyden (D-Ore.), on Thursday\r\nreleased the following statement on the sentencing of an American citizen, Walid Fitaihi, in Saudi\r\nArabia: We are\r\nappalled that Walid Fitaihi has been sentenced to six years in prison by a\r\nSaudi court on politically motivated charges. We have repeatedly called for the\r\nrelease of Dr. Fitaihi since his arrest in 2017, and supported Secretary\r\nPompeo's direct appeals to Saudi authorities to resolve his case.\r\nUnfortunately, the Saudi government has ignored these bipartisan appeals,\r\ndespite clear implications for the U.S.-Saudi relationship, the senators said. The\r\nsenators continued: Fitaihi is a dual American-Saudi citizen who was\r\nsentenced, in part, for the supposed crime of obtaining U.S. citizenship\r\nwithout permission from the Saudi government. He was also sentenced for\r\noffending foreign countries' with his peaceful speech on Twitter, where he\r\nposted messages in support of democratic protests across the Arab world in\r\n2011. The Saudi government should immediately release Dr. Fitaihi, lift the\r\ntravel ban on his family, and drop these baseless and politically motivated\r\ncharges. The persecution of American citizens, which also includes the ongoing\r\ndetention of Salah al Haidar and Bader al Ibrahim, is unacceptable. ###", 1, "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z", "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z"]], "columns": ["url", "title", "date", "year", "month", "party", "chamber", "state", "member_name", "bioguide_id", "domain", "scraper", "source", "date_source", "text", "has_text", "collected_at", "updated_at"], "primary_keys": ["url"], "primary_key_values": ["https://www.murphy.senate.gov/newsroom/press-releases/murphy-leahy-menendez-van-hollen-wyden-statement-on-sentencing-of-walid-fitaihi-in-saudi-arabia"], "units": {}, "query_ms": 1.485974993556738, "source": "dwillis/congress-press", "source_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press", "license": "MIT", "license_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press/blob/main/LICENSE"}