Arrested in 2021, she gets the longest known sentence for a women’s rights activist in Saudi Arabia.
Salma al-Shehab, 34, the mother of two who was studying at Leeds University in the UK, was arrested in January 2021.
The reason for this is that she called for reforms and the release of activists before her trip to the kingdom.
Shehab’s Instagram account describes her as a dental hygienist and medical educator. She is a final-year Ph.D. student at Leeds University’s school of medicine and a lecturer at Princess Nourah University in Riyadh.
She was arrested because of her social media activity, which had been reported using a crime reporting app called “kollona Amn” or “we are all security” (the Guardian reported).
This app is used by the Saudi government to keep a check on dissent. As the human rights group presented that the situation of women’s rights is getting worse in contrast to Saudi claims.
A terrorism tribunal accused Shehab of supporting these activists and disrupting public order by publishing false rumors.
An activist tweets dissent against the kingdom’s hegemony.
Salma’s Twitter account has 2,700 followers, which has been inactive since her arrest in January last year, but in the last week of July, she tweeted and retweeted several tweets which demanded reforms and the release of activists and intellectuals.
After the ban on women driving was lifted in 2018, a group of leading women’s rights activists, including Loujain al-Hathloul, were detained and then accused of crimes against the state.
Saudi claims that women’s rights now have firm ground in the kingdom, but Salma’s arrest narrates a different story.
It’s not only the story of Salma but of many activists who are working for change. To name a few, prominent women’s rights activist Loujain and dissident journalist Jamal Khashoggi, who was killed in October 2018.
Loujain continues to face restrictions despite being released.
As reported by ALQST, a UK-based group, and Freedom House, a US-based human rights group, Shehab was initially given a six-year prison sentence, which was increased to 34 years along with a 34-year travel ban.
This sentence was described as “abhorrent” by Bethany al-Haidari, Saudi case manager at the Freedom Initiative.
Bethany said that many young women were detained by the state at the same time as Salma’s arrest.
Lina al-Hathloul, ALQAT’s head of communication and Loujain’s sister, said the sentence made it clear how kingdom authorities remained “hellbent on harshly punishing anyone who expresses their opinions freely.”
Furthermore, she told the BBC, “The release of Loujain al-Hathloul and other women’s rights activists came about in response to sustained international pressure.” However, as the spotlight on Saudi Arabia has gradually faded, the authorities have reverted to their habitual pattern of repression. “
The activist advocates that the rights of women should not be criminalized. These activists are being charged for dissent!
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