A Saudi university student who returned to Saudi Arabia for a vacation was sentenced to 34 years in jail for having a Twitter account and following and retweeting dissident groups.
Salma al-Shebab, 34, was charged with using Twitter to ‘create public discontent and destabilize civil and national security’ after tweeting for women’s rights in Saudi Arabia.
Al-Shebab, who has two young kids aged four and six, was sentenced to six years in prison, but a Saudi terrorist court enhanced her sentence to 34 years on Monday when the activist appealed.
After serving her sentence, the mom of two will face a 34-year travel restriction.
The court noted Al-social Shebab’s media activity, in which she tweeted in favor of Saudi women’s rights and showed sympathy with imprisoned women’s rights activists such as Loujain al-Hathloul, calling for their release.
Al-Shebab was detained after retweeting a tweet from Al-sister Hathloul’s Lina that said, ‘Freedom for Loujain Al-Hathloul…’ All political prisoners must be released. My first hope for this New Year is for your freedom – Happy New Year!’
Al-Shebab would also occasionally retweet tweets from dissident activists in exile.
She was charged with ‘offering aid to individuals aiming to disturb public order and damage public safety and state stability, as well as disseminating false and tendentious allegations on Twitter.’
Al-Shebab was detained in January 2021 while on vacation in Saudi Arabia, just days before returning to the UK, where she was a PhD student at the University of Leeds.
Al-religious Shehab’s identification as a Shi’a Muslim is thought to have played a role in her detention and punishment.
Saudi Arabia has bragged to the world that they are enhancing women’s rights and establishing legislative reform, however there is no doubt with this horrific punishment that the situation is only growing worse, said Dr Bethany Al-Haidari, Saudi case manager at the US-based human rights organization.
It is unsurprising that Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman feels more powerful than ever in presiding over such heinous human rights crimes.
Salma’s punishment was based on her social media account, where she advocated for the release of women’s rights campaigner Loujain al-Hathloul.
‘Although Salma was sentenced to six years in prison in the first instance court, her sentence was enhanced to 34 years during the appeal. This is Saudi Arabia’s longest known sentence for a women’s rights campaigner.
Al-Hathloul, who is still illegally detained in Saudi Arabia due to a travel prohibition, was freed from prison a few weeks after al-arrest. Shebab’s Al-Shebab had demanded that Al-Hathloul be released from jail.
It is paradoxical that while Loujain’s release was hailed, Salma stayed behind bars on the exact grounds that she asked for that very release, Al-Haidari remarked.
It’s become a norm for Saudi officials to prevent female activists from celebrating or taking credit for any of their hard-won successes.
