reporter every evening, friends : come to abdulnassar gharem's studio in the middle of the saudi capitalriyadh. there's plenty of creative space here to work in a way that is unusually free. but one person is missing. ashraf fayadh, a poet who's in jail. he had been sentenced to death on charges of apostasy and blasphemy. abdulnasser gharem: ashraf -- unfortunately, he was the guy who destiny chose, but everybody was moved with him. that's not right, that's wrong -- and it works. they changed it to eight years in jail. and i hope in the future it will , be changed. reporter: gharem makes art with rubber stamps, an allusion to the saudi bureaucracy which governs all aspects of life in the kingdom. for him, making his own rubber stamps is a way of wresting back control. for a long time, gharem took orders. he served 23 years in the army and even made it to lieutenant colonel. a typical career path for young men from abha in the south of the country. but two classmates became terrorists and were involved in the 9/11 attacks. abdulnasser gharem: we were shocked when we saw them in the news.