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] He was close friends and worked with Jamal Khashoggi, as recounted in the film The Dissident (2020). He is a member of the National Assembly Party.[2]
He hosts a YouTube satire program known for its criticism of the kingdom and its leadership.[3] Consulting firm McKinsey & Company named Abdulaziz in an internal report as one of the top Saudi influencers on Twitter.[3]
He applied for asylum 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 with Jamal Khashoggi—the Saudi dissident and journalist for The Washington Post—on various initiatives after Khashoggi left the kingdom to live in exile in 2017.[1] In 2018 Abdulaziz's phone was hacked and his conversations with Khashoggi were intercepted.[1][5] Khashoggi was later assassinated 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 film The Dissident (2020), directed by Bryan Fogel.[6]