FILE – In this May 10, 2017 file photo, Muslim-American comedian Hasan Minhaj cracks jokes for the audience after New York Mayor Bill de Blasio proclaimed May 10th as “Hasan Minhaj Day,” at Gracie Mansion, in New York. In December 2018, Netflix is facing criticism for pulling an episode, from viewing in Saudi Arabia of Minhaj’s “Patriot Act” that lambasted Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman over the killing of writer Jamal Khashoggi and the Saudi-led war in Yemen. (AP Photo/Kathy Willens, File)
NEW YORK (AP) – Netflix faced criticism Wednesday from human rights groups for pulling an episode in Saudi Arabia of comedian Hasan Minhaj’s “Patriot Act” series that criticized the kingdom’s powerful crown prince.
The American comedian used his second episode, released Oct. 28, to criticize Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman over the killing of writer Jamal Khashoggi and the Saudi-led coalition at war in Yemen.
Human rights group Amnesty International said Saudi Arabia’s censorship of Netflix is “further proof of a relentless crackdown on freedom of expression.” PEN America, the literary and human rights organization, said the move “legitimizes repression.” Netflix said it was simply complying with a local law.
Khashoggi, who wrote critically of the crown prince in columns for the newspaper, was killed and dismembered by Saudi agents inside the Saudi consulate in Istanbul last year. The U.S. Senate has said it believes the crown prince is responsible for the grisly killing, despite insistence by the kingdom that he had no knowledge of the operation.
“It blows my mind that it took the killing of a Washington Post journalist for everyone to go: ‘Oh I guess he’s not really a reformer,'” Minhaj said in the episode.