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Rabat – A court in Saudi Arabia sentenced on Monday women’s rights advocate Salma al-Shehab to 34 years in prison, the longest verdict ever ruled against a women’s rights defender in the Gulf country.
A mother of two, the academic received the sentence for showing support for women’s rights activists in Saudi Arabia in a series of tweets.
The sentence against al-Sheha came from a Saudi terrorism court, said a statement from the Freedom Initiative, a US-based non-partisan human rights organization, noting that Shehab’s tweets called for the respect of women’s basic rights in Saudi Arabia.
In addition to the long prison sentence, the activist is also facing a 34-year travel ban.
“The ruling is the longest prison sentence given to a Saudi women’s rights defender, marking an escalation in MBS crackdown on dissent,” the US-based NGO argued.
Saudi Arabia detained the activist in January 2021 a few days before she was due to return to the UK, where she was pursuing a PhD at the University of Leeds.
Bethany Al-Haidari, the Saudi case manager at the Freedom Initiative, lamented the sentence and said that there is a wide gap between Saudi Arabia’s rhetoric and actions when it comes to promoting or improving women’s rights in the Gulf country.
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“There is no question with this abhorrent sentence that the situation is only getting worse,” Al Haidari said, criticizing Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman. “It is, unfortunately, no surprise that MbS feels more empowered than ever in presiding over such egregious rights violations.”
“It is, unfortunately, no surprise that MbS feels more empowered than ever in presiding over such egregious rights violations,” she said, slamming the absence of real steps toward accountability.
She also slammed the absence of real steps toward accountability, and appeared to take issue with the silence of Saudi Arabia’s partners in the West despite grim reports about individual freedoms in the Gulf country. “Biden’s trip to Jeddah and the international community’s embrace must feel like a green light,” she said, calling for the immediate release of the activist.
Many Saudi activists and citizens condemned the sentence against Shehab, with activist and scholar Hala Dosari especially lamenting what she described as an unlivable atmosphere for women’s rights activists.
“This is irrational, heartbreaking, and disastrous for the hundreds of women detained or to be detained in similar charges of supporting rights or freedom,” she said. “This is also reflective of an increased regime insecurity, both domestically and abroad.”
