Salma al-Shehab, a mother of two and Saudi national, was reportedly detained in January 2021 while on vacation in Saudi Arabia, just days before she was supposed to board a flight for her home in Britain, according to rights organisations.
Human rights organisations have denounced the harsh judgement against the Saudi woman, 34, who was detained last year and sentenced to 34 years in prison for allegedly following and retweeting activists and dissidents on Twitter. The woman, a PhD candidate at Leeds University in the UK, had left for vacation when she was scheduled, according to The Guardian.
According to reports, the sentence is one of the longest prison terms ever imposed on a Saudi woman’s rights defender.
A special terrorist court initially gave Salma al-Shehab a three-year prison sentence. According to the court, Shehab “caused public unrest and destabilised civil and national security” by using a website. An appeals court changed it later on Monday, increasing the sentence to 34 years in prison and a 34-year travel ban.
Shehab was active on social media during campaigns to abolish the nation’s guardianship system, which gives men legal control over specific aspects of their female relatives’ lives.
According to the ESOHR, which keeps track of arrests in the kingdom, Shehab was charged with fomenting sedition, aiding those who want to undermine public order, disseminating malicious and false rumours on Twitter, and undermining social stability and security.
The decision to sentence Shehab under the anti-terrorism law, according to a statement from the ESOHR on Tuesday, “confirms that Saudi Arabia treats as terrorists those who demand reforms and criticise on social networks.”
Her most recent tweet, is a prayer asking God’s forgiveness if she has ever unintentionally hurt someone and pleading with Him to give her the strength to reject injustice and stand by those who do.
