Col Rabih Alenezi says he was ordered to evict villagers from a tribe in the Gulf state to make way for The Line, part of the Neom eco-project.
One of them was subsequently shot and killed for protesting against eviction.
The Saudi government and Neom management refused to comment.
Neom, Saudi Arabia’s $500bn (£399bn) eco-region, is part of its Saudi Vision 2030 strategy which aims to diversify the kingdom’s economy away from oil.
Its flagship project, The Line, has been pitched as a car-free city, just 200m (656ft) wide and 170km (106 miles) long - though only 2.4km of the project is reportedly expected to be completed by 2030.
if you’ve ever wonder what it was like to see the pyramids being built…
The pyramids were built by well paid craftsmen. This will end up being built by de facto slaves from other countries.
Designed, certainly. But constructed by peasant corvée.
It wasn’t, the pyramids ended up as planned. This won’t.
They didn’t always go as planned! https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bent_Pyramid
Pharaos probably were like “build my tomb inside a golden tower that reaches the stars” and a couple years later, “OK, a pointy 400 foot high pile of rocks will have to do I guess”.