A Saudi court on Monday sentenced prominent human rights activist Loujain al-Hathloul to five years and eight months in prison on terrorism-related charges and banned her from leaving the country for five years. State-linked Saudi news outlet Sabq reported that al-Hathloul had been found guilty on charges of pursuing a foreign agenda, contacting “unfriendly” states and providing classified information, using the internet to harm public order and attempting to overthrow the government.
Al-Hathloul, 31, has long spoken about human rights in Saudi Arabia. She was arrested in May 2018 along with several other women rights activists for campaigning in support of women driving and speaking out against male guardianship laws which barred women from traveling abroad without the consent of a male relative, such as a father, husband or brother.
She was arrested just weeks before the historic lifting of a decades-long ban on female drivers in the kingdom. Since her arrest, Saudi Arabian government has eased guardianship laws which now allows women to apply for a passport and travel freely. Ironically, Al-Hathloul and many other activists had campaigned for these very reforms for which she and other activists were arrested.
Another Saudi women’s rights activist, Maya’a al-Zahrani, was issued the same sentence for a similar list of charges by the Specialized Criminal Court, which tries terrorism cases, according to local media reports. Both women have 30 days to appeal the verdicts.
Even while in prison Al-Hathloul launched hunger strikes to protest her imprisonment and joined other female activists in telling Saudi judges that she was tortured and sexually assaulted by masked men during interrogations. The activists say they were caned, electrocuted, waterboarded and even groped and threatened with rape. Her family claimed that Al-Hathloul rejected an offer to retract her allegations of torture in exchange for early release.
The sentencing of Al-Hathloul after nearly 3 years of solitary confinement has drawn the ire of many countries, especially European lawmakers. Her family has called the trial a sham and politically motivated but has said that they will appeal her prison sentence.
Sister of Al-Hathloul took to twitter and revealed that Loujain cried when she heard the sentence. “After nearly 3 years of arbitrary detention, torture, solitary confinement – they now sentence her and label her a terrorist. Loujain will appeal the sentence and ask for another investigation regarding torture #FreeLoujain”, she tweeted.
Cale Brown, the deputy spokesman of the State Department said the United States was “concerned by reports” of her sentence. “We’ve emphasized the importance of free expression and peaceful activism in Saudi Arabia as it advances women’s rights,” Brown tweeted.
Jake Sullivan, who will take over as national security adviser when Joe Biden is sworn in as president on January 20, called the sentence “unjust and troubling” adding that the new administration would “stand up against human rights violations wherever they occur.”
The UN Human Rights Organisation took up the matter with the Saudi government. The organisation tweeted about the same and said that since Al-Hathloul has already been arbitrarily detained for 2 ½ years, an early release is possible.
“#SaudiArabia: Conviction and 5yrs 8 month sentence handed down to prominent women’s rights campaigner #LoujainAlHathloul, already arbitrarily detained for 2 ½ years, is also deeply troubling. We understand early release is possible, and strongly encourage it as a matter of urgency”, read its tweet.
Aayush Pal 
Shobhil Shrivastava 
Dr. Niranjan B Poojar