A Saudi Women’s rights campaigner, has been sentenced to 34 years in jail for tweeting
33 year old Salma al-Shehab has been charged with disrupting “public order” and undermining “the safety of the general public and stability of the state.”
According to some reports, she did not make her own tweet, but was following & retweeting accounts critical of Saudi Arabia.
She has been sentenced to 34 years in prison, followed by a 34 year travel ban.
The United States is now studying the case to determine its validity and fairness.
“Exercising freedom of expression to advocate for the rights of women should not be criminalised, it should never be criminalised.”
State Department spokesperson Ned Price told reporters
Al-Shehab was a student at Leeds University in the UK, when she was arrested in 2021.
Salma al-Shehab:
We are deeply concerned to learn of the recent development in Salma’s case and are seeking advice on whether there is anything we can do to support her.
Our thoughts remain with Salma, her family, and her friends among our close-knit community.
She says she has been subject to solitary confinement and the investigation has kept her from contact with her two young children.
Her sister, an activist as well, says this is a “mockery of the Saudi authorities claims of reforms for women”, adding “they remain hellbent on harshly punishing anyone who expresses their opinions.”
