Omar Abdulaziz Al-Zahrani (Arabic:عمر بن عبد العزيز الزهراني) is a Saudi Arabian dissident video blogger and activist living in exile in Montreal, Canada.[1] As recounted in the filmThe Dissident (2020), he was close friends and worked withJamal Khashoggi, dissident Saudi journalistassassinated bySaudi government agents at the Saudiconsulate inIstanbul, Turkey. Al-Zahrani is a member of theNational Assembly Party.[2]
He hosts aYouTube satire program known for its criticism of the kingdom and its leadership.[3] Consulting firmMcKinsey & Company named Abdulaziz in an internal report as one of the top Saudi influencers onTwitter.[3]
He applied for asylum in Canada in 2014, when his student scholarship was cancelled after he criticised the Saudi government.[1] He became a Canadian permanent resident in 2017.[4]
Abdulaziz was close friends[3] and worked withJamal Khashoggi—the Saudidissident and journalist forThe Washington Post—on various initiatives after Khashoggi left the kingdom to live in exile in 2017.[1] In 2018 Abdulaziz's phone washacked and his conversations with Khashoggi were intercepted.[1][5] Khashoggi was laterassassinated by Saudi Arabia. Abdulaziz's two brothers and several friends are imprisoned in their homes in Saudi Arabia because of their links to him.[1][4]
His story features prominently in the filmThe Dissident (2020), directed byBryan Fogel.[6]
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