Kyinzom Dhongdue, strategy and advocacy manager at Amnesty International Australia, told SBS News Saudi Arabia is using the Riyadh Comedy Festival to “distract the world from its brutal human rights record” and the involvement of major comedians from the United States and the United Kingdom is “disappointing”.

According to a declassified US intelligence assessment released in 2021, Salman approved the operation to capture or kill Khashoggi, despite denials from Saudi officials that the de facto ruler had any involvement.

The restrictions reportedly stated the comedian would agree not to “perform any material that may be considered to degrade, defame, or bring into public disrepute, contempt, scandal, embarrassment or ridicule” Saudi Arabia, its leaders, public figures, culture or people, the Saudi royal family, legal system, government or any religion, religious tradition or religious practice.

US comedian Tim Dillon, who had previously stated the festival was paying him US$375,000 ($569,000) for a set, which he considered enough to “look the other way”, later said he was dropped from the festival’s bill because of jokes he had previously made about Saudi Arabia’s alleged use of forced labour.

Human rights abuses

Turki al-Jassar, a journalist for an independent newspaper who was known for exposing alleged corruption in the Saudi royal family, was executed in June after his arrest in 2018 and alleged torture in al-Ha’ir prison.

Dhongdue said she was sentenced “simply because of her choice of clothing and her support for women’s rights in Saudi Arabia”.

Why is Saudi Arabia holding a comedy festival?

Human Rights Watch said the investment in Saudi Arabia’s entertainment industry, alongside some social and economic advances for women and young people, has distracted from the alleged violations committed in the Middle Eastern nation.