Whichaya gonna choose, human rights or the ability to gas up the ol’ SUV every couple of days?

It’s the SUV every time, of course.

A US national held in Saudi Arabia has received a 16-year jail sentence for writing tweets critical of the government, his son has told the BBC.

Saad Ibrahim Almadi, 72, who also has Saudi citizenship, was arrested in November after he travelled from Florida to Riyadh to see his family. His son has now spoken out for the first time publicly, going against what he says has been US official advice.

Ibrahim Almadi said he did not want to see his father die in prison. He alleged that Saad had been held in conditions that amounted to torture since his arrest by Saudi authorities.

The Saudi court that issued the prison sentence found him guilty of trying to destabilise the kingdom and of supporting and funding terrorism. Ibrahim says the only evidence finally presented to the court consisted of 14 tweets.

And by the way, while we’re on the subject of supporting terrorism, hello, this is Saudi Arabia. Remember Jamal Khashoggi?

The tweets, which the BBC has seen, include criticism of the demolition of old parts of the cities of Mecca and Jeddah, concern over poverty in the kingdom, and a reference to the murdered Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi.

Yeaaaaaahhhhhhh that’s not terrorism, it’s dissent. That’s all it is. It’s criticism.

[Ibrahim] also criticised what he sees as lack of action over his father’s case by the US government. He said that only two meetings had been conducted with his father by US officials in Saudi Arabia during his detention – the first came a full six months after he was arrested.

Ibrahim also alleged that his efforts to contact the White House directly had been rebuffed.

He first revealed his father’s story to the BBC when President Joe Biden travelled to Saudi Arabia in July. The visit confirmed that de facto Saudi ruler Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman had been welcomed back into the fold of world leaders, almost four years after the killing of Jamal Khashoggi tarnished his image.

It’s those SUVs, man. Gotta keep them suckers moving.