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Saudi woman jailed for 34 years for retaliation against political activists


A Saudi woman has been sentenced to 34 years in prison for recounting activists living in exile who have called for the release of political prisoners.

Salma al-Shehab, a 33-year-old mother of two and a PhD candidate at the University of Leeds in the UK, has been detained since January 2021 during a trip to the country for holiday, according to the document. of the court. CNN.

At some point during her visit, she was arrested for retweeting, and held for interrogation for 265 days before being sentenced to six years in prison for “disturbing public order, destabilizing country and stabilize life,” the newspaper reported.

The 6-year sentence increased to 34 years after the appeal failed, according to court documents

After appealing the decision, she was sentenced to 34 years in prison, according to court documents. Meanwhile, the US State Department said it was looking into al-Shehab’s case.

“But I can say this is a general issue and I can say this without warning and resolutely: exercising freedom of speech to advocate for women’s rights should not be criminalized. ,” said State Department spokesman Ned Price.

Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch have since called for her release.

Al-Shehab is said to have told the specialized criminal court she was “pushed” without warning into a months-long investigation, where she was held in solitary confinement.

She added that she needed to take care of her sick children and mother, and asked the court to look at that, the documents read.

One of the activists retweeted by al-Shehab is her biological sister, herself jailed for substantial crimes

ALQST’s Head of Monitoring and Communications Lina Al-Hathloul told CNN that one of the al-Shehab activists who retweeted was her older sister, Loujain al-Hathloul, who spent 1,000 days in jail after a month. a sting in May 2018 that targeted prominent political opponents. voiced criticism of the country’s now repealed law preventing women from driving.

Her sister issued a statement through ALQST condemning the kingdom and saying al-Shehab’s sentence “mocked the Saudi government’s statement on reform towards women and the legal system” and it “shows that they are still subject to severe punishment to anyone who expresses their opinions freely.”

Meanwhile, al-Shehab’s Twitter account remains online and has a pinned tweet that reads “freedom for prisoners of conscience and all the oppressed in the world”.

Kingdom encouraged after President Biden’s ‘weakness’ expression during visit, critics say

The international backlash comes just a week after US President Joe Biden visited Saudi Arabia, where he was criticized in a Atlantic co-editor for showing weakness in the face of growing devastation from the oil-rich Gulf state.

Within 24 hours of leaving the country, an American citizen, Asim Ghafoor, was sentenced to three years in prison for the misdemeanor charge.

Ghafoor, who served as the lawyer to kill Washington Post journalist Jamal Khashoggi (another cause of friction between the US and the kingdom), was detained just two days before passing through Dubai International Airport, by the Atlantic Ocean.

A State Department spokesman was dubious when asked by CNN if Saudi Arabia was agitated by recent U.S. engagements in the country, saying that “our involvement… make it clear…that human rights are at the heart of our agenda.”






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