France 24
Saudi activist Loujain al-Hathloul receives five years and eight months in prison
Saudi human rights activist Loujain al-Hathloul was sentenced on Monday to five years and eight months in prison, including two years and ten months suspended, according to several media. According to the France 24 correspondent, taking into account the sentence already served, she could be released in March. Saudi human rights activist Loujain al-Hathloul was sentenced on Monday, December 28, to five years and eight months in prison by a court specializing in anti-terrorism cases, reported Saudi media, including two years and ten months suspended. The young woman was arrested in May 2018, shortly before the lifting of the ban on driving made to her fellow citizens, a reform for which she was campaigning. She was found guilty of “various activities prohibited by the anti-terrorism law”, specified online media outlet Sabq, a representative of whom attended the hearing. The activist has been in pre-trial detention for more than two years, a period counted in the sentence, said Saudi media citing the court ruling. The date of her release from detention has not been specified, but according to France 24 correspondent Saeed Al Jaber, taking into account the sentence already served, she could be released in March. An appeal of the decision can be lodged within 30 days. Loujain al-Hathloul was arrested along with other activists in May 2018 shortly before the lifting of the driving ban on Saudi women, a reform the women were campaigning for. No Tangible Evidence According to Saudi Foreign Minister Faisal ben Farhan Al-Saoud, Loujain al-Hathloul, 31, is accused of having been in contact with states “hostile” to the kingdom and of having transmitted information confidential. But his family say the Saudi government has provided no tangible evidence to support the charges. Loujain al-Hathloul’s family announced in late November that their case had been transferred by a judge at the criminal court in Riyadh to a Terrorism Court, a specialized criminal court established in 2008 to try terrorism cases, but has since been widely used to try political prisoners, according to human rights organizations. Saudi Arabia is widely criticized in the West for its human rights record, with the activist going on a hunger strike in prison on October 26 before being cut off two weeks later, according to her family and Amnesty International. >> See also: “I am very worried for my sister Loujain al-Hathloul, feminist imprisoned in Saudi Arabia” Sexual harassmentLoujain al-Hathloul had, among other things, appeared on December 11, two days after the conviction ion by the same court to six years in prison of a prominent Saudi-American doctor, Walid Fitaihi. He was notably accused of having obtained American nationality without authorization and of sympathy towards an unidentified terrorist organization, a source close to his family told AFP. “Loujain’s morale is good but his physical condition remains low” , declared her sister Alia al-Hathloul at the time. A graduate of the Canadian University of British Columbia (UBC), this “fierce” activist for the cause of Saudi women, has only carried out peaceful actions in the ultraconservative kingdom. has long campaigned for the right of Saudi women to drive and for the end of the guardianship which places women at the total mercy of men. The pro-government media have called these activists “traitors”, for having maintained contact with diplomats and foreign NGOs. Her family claims that she has been the victim of sexual harassment and torture in detention. The activist told her family that former royal adviser Saud al-Qahtani threatened to rape and kill her, which authorities vigorously deny. This is not the first time that this Saudi woman, familiar with social media and from Al-Qassim, a conservative region in central Saudi Arabia, finds herself behind bars after being arrested in late 2014 and detained for attempting to enter Saudi Arabia while driving a car. ‘a car from the United Arab Emirates. She was released 73 days later, following an international campaign.
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