For possessing a Twitter account, as well as for following and retweeting dissident activists, a Saudi student at Leeds University in the UK was given a 34-year prison sentence. The student had recently returned to Saudi Arabia for vacation.
After tweeting about women’s rights in Saudi Arabia, Salma al-Shebab, 34, was charged with using Twitter to “create public discontent and destabilize civil and national security.”
Al-Shebab, who has two young sons, ages four and six, was originally given a six-year prison term, but on Monday, August 15, a Saudi terrorism court raised it to 34 years after she filed an appeal.
The court used Al-social Shebab’s media activity as evidence when it came time to sentence her, pointing out that she tweeted in favor of women’s rights in Saudi Arabia and asked for the release of advocates for these rights who were detained, such Loujain al-Hathloul. Al-Shebab was detained after sharing Al-sister Hathloul’s Lina’s tweet, which read: “Loujain Al-release Hathloul’s All political prisoners should be released. Happy New Year! My first wish for you in the next year is freedom.”
Al-Shebab occasionally reposted tweets written by activists for dissident causes who were exiled.
She was charged with “posting false and tendentious rumors on Twitter and providing succor to individuals aiming to disturb public order and undermine the safety of the general public and stability of the state.”
Al-Shebab, a PhD candidate at the University of Leeds in the UK, was detained in January 2021 while on vacation in Saudi Arabia, just days before she was scheduled to return to the country.
“Saudi Arabia has claimed to the world that they are enhancing women’s rights and creating legislative reform, but there is no question with this appalling sentence that the situation is only growing worse,” said Dr. Bethany Al-Haidari, the Saudi case manager at the US-based human rights organization.
Unfortunately, it comes as no surprise that Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman feels more in control than ever while overseeing such flagrant human rights abuses.
Salma’s social media account, where she advocated for the release of women’s rights campaigner Loujain al-Hathloul, was cited in the sentence-determining decision.
Salma was originally given a 6-year sentence in the first instance court, but during the appeal, the term was raised to 34 years. The longest sentence ever known to have been imposed on a Saudi campaigner for women’s rights. Only a few weeks after al-arrest, Shebab’s Loujain Al-Hathloul, who is still unjustly detained in Saudi Arabia due to a travel ban, was freed from prison.
Before her detention, Al-Shebab demanded the release of Al-Hathloul.
Al-Haidari continued, “It is ironic that Salma was kept in jail despite the fact that she asked for Loujain’s release at the same time Salma’s release was being lauded.
The Saudi government often makes sure that female campaigners cannot acknowledge or celebrate any of their arduous triumphs.
