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A 34-year-old Saudi woman has been sentenced to 34 years in prison for allegedly following anti-government activists on Twitter and retweeting their posts, a harsh sentence condemned by human rights groups. The woman was arrested last year.
According to the British newspaper The Guardian, Salma Al Shahab is a PhD student at the University of Leeds in the UK. She was arrested when she returned home from a vacation. The verdict is reportedly one of the longest prison terms ever handed down to a Saudi woman who has spoken out for women's rights.
Salma Al Shahab was initially sentenced to three years in prison by the Special Terrorism Court. The court said Shahab used an internet website to 'spread public unrest and destabilize civil and national security'.
Later on Monday, an appeals court commuted the sentence to 34 years in prison and a 34-year travel ban. Several human rights organizations, including the Human Rights Foundation, the Freedom Initiative, the European Saudi Organization for Human Rights, condemned the decision. Condemned and demanded their release.
"We call on the Saudi authorities to release Salma al-Shahab, allow her to return to care for her children and complete her studies in the UK safely," the Freedom Initiative said in a statement.
Tweeting in solidarity with women's rights activists is not a crime, the statement added.
A Guardian report said court documents allege that Salma al-Shahab is aiding and abetting those who seek to foment public unrest and destabilize civil and national security through her Twitter accounts. The report added that he is not particularly famous in the country or abroad, with 2,597 followers on Twitter and just 159 on Instagram.
The United States Commission on International Religious Freedom said Salma al-Shahab is a Shia Muslim and her religious identity could be a reason for her arrest or harsh punishment. Meanwhile, the Berlin-based European Saudi Organization for Human Rights said Shahab Oral and Dental A specialist in medicine, a PhD student at the University of Leeds, UK, and a lecturer at Princes Norah University, she is married and has two sons. According to reports, he was arrested on January 15, 2021, days after he was due to return to the UK.
The European Saudi Organization for Human Rights said in a statement: "The public prosecution brought several charges against him, including harming the security of society and the stability of the state, inciting rebellion, providing aid to those who disturb public order, and spreading false and malicious rumors on Twitter. Although all the allegations against him are related to his activity on Twitter.
Salmi was part of campaigns calling for an end to the system of guardianship over women by their male relatives and the release of male and female prisoners of conscience.
The sentence comes a few weeks after US President Joe Biden met Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman in Jeddah on July 15. Biden was criticized for meeting with the Arab leader, who is accused of a number of human rights abuses, including ordering the killing of Saudi critic Jamal Khashoggi.
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