Saudi college student Salma al-Shehab was sentenced to 34 yrs in prison for denouncing women’s legal rights on Twitter and retweeting dissident tweets – this is the greatest sentence Saudi Arabia has ever handed down in this sort of a case. The gatherings also solid a grim light-weight on the Saudi royal family’s involvement with the social media platform.
Salma al-Shehab’s get to on social media was rather constrained, his Twitter account it only had 2,597 followers. In addition to quite a few photographs of their young children, the posts also include retweets from critics of the Saudi regime. Shehab apparently supported women’s rights activist Loujain al-Hathloul, who had protested the crackdown these as the (now lifted) ban on females from driving.
Salma al-Shehab, 34, was a PhD scholar at the University of Leeds in the British isles. She is married and the mother of two small children aged four and six. In January 2021, she was arrested even though on vacation in Saudi Arabia. The accusation: you are a threat to “civil and countrywide protection”.
A very first sentence was confined to 3 many years of imprisonment. in the appeal approach just before a distinctive court docket specializing in “terrorism” circumstances, the judges have now amplified the sentence to 34 a long time in jail and then to a further 34 a long time of ban on leaving the place. The prosecutor experienced earlier submitted new costs versus Shehab. Through retweets from dissidents, he “supported those looking for to provoke public unrest and destabilize civil and national protection.”
To die United Nations Human Rights Group OHCHR expressed his indignation at the verdict. In a statement Friday, OHCHR spokeswoman Liz Throssell referred to as for Shehab’s instant release. You also requested the Saudi authorities to overview all sentences against human legal rights activists who campaigned for reforms in the country’s repressive policy.
The scenario of Salma al-Shehab is the hottest case in point of Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman’s repressive system versus social media activists. And it sheds a dim mild on the Saudi royal family’s involvement with Twitter. Mohammed owns the Saudi sovereign prosperity fund Community financial commitment fund (PIF) a higher share in the microblogging assistance. According to the Guardian, Twitter has declined any remark on the circumstance and does not give any information and facts on how Saudi Arabia impacts the organization.
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