A 34-year-old Saudi woman, arrested last year, has been sentenced to 34 years in prison. Reportedly, the imprisonment results from following and retweeting dissidents and activists on Twitter. She is a Ph.D. student studying at Leeds University in the UK.
The woman is accused of causing “public unrest”
Salma al-Shehab was initially sentenced to three years in prison by a special terrorist court. She has been accused of causing “public unrest” and “destabilizing civil and national security”. Later, on Monday, a court revised it to 34 years of imprisonment and a 34-year travel ban.
She is also a lecturer at Princess Nourah bint Abdulrahman University. Salma is married with two sons. She was arrested on January 15, 2021, days before she was scheduled to return to the UK, said reports.
The ruling is reportedly one of the longest prison sentences given to a Saudi woman’s rights defender
Several human rights organizations, including the Human Rights Foundation, The Freedom Initiative, the European Saudi Organisation for Human Rights, and ALQST for Human Rights, have condemned the ruling and called for her release.
“We call on Saudi authorities to free Salma, allowing her to return to care for the children and to complete her studies safely in the United Kingdom,” said The Freedom Initiative in a statement. “Tweeting in solidarity with women’s rights activists is not a crime, ” it added.
The United States Commission on International Religious Freedom said: “Shehab’s religious identity as a Shia Muslim is believed to have been a factor in her arrest and harsh sentencing.”
“The Public Prosecution accused her of several charges. It includes undermining the security of society and the stability of the state, spreading sedition, providing aid to those who seek to disrupt public order, and spreading false and malicious rumors on Twitter. Appeals court judges invoked the counterterrorism regime and its financing to justify the harsh ruling, even though all charges against her relate to her Twitter activity,” ESOHR said in a statement.
The development comes just days after US President Joe Biden met Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman. Biden was criticized for meeting with the Arab leader who has been accused of several human rights violations.