RIYADH, KOMPAS.com – Court against activist girls Saudi Arabia prominent Loujain Al Hathloul will be transferred to the court which was set up to oversee cases terrorism, said his family on Wednesday (26/11/3030).
Quoted from Associated PressThe referral of Loujain Al Hathloul’s case to the Special Criminal Court is a setback to efforts to push for Al Hathloul’s immediate release, and means he will face charges related to terrorism and national security. He has been jailed for 2.5 years.
Quoted from AFP, The Special Criminal Court (SCC) was established in 2008 to handle terrorism-related cases, but has been widely used to prosecute political dissidents and human rights activists. This trial is controversial because of its closed nature.
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In a report earlier this year, Amnesty International said the secret tribunal was being used to silence critical voices under the guise of fighting terrorism.
Cases are brought to these courts using anti-terrorism laws that criminalize acts such as insulting the government or “disobeying the authorities”.
According to the 53-page report, the tribunal has been used as a “ weapon of repression ” to jail peaceful critics, activists, journalists, clerics and others.
Amnesty International said it had documented many trial cases that were held in secret at these courts.
“The Saudi government may decide to end the nightmare of two years for brave human rights defender Loujain Al Hathloud,” Amnesty International’s Lynn Maalouf said in a statement.
“Instead, in a movement deemed disturbing, they transferred the case to an institution that used to silence dissent and was notorious for handing down sentences. jail long after a seriously flawed trial, “he was quoted as saying AFP.
Al Hathloul is one of the leading women rights activists in Saudi Arabia. He was detained amid massive crackdown led by Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, who had brought many things to be more reformist but at the same time pressured activists who had long been pushing for change.
She and dozens of other prominent women’s rights activists were arrested in May 2018 just weeks before Saudi Arabia lifted a driving ban on women.
They face charges of compromising security in connection with their activities and communications with foreign journalists, Western diplomats and independent rights groups.
Quoted from AFPA criminal court judge in Riyadh announced that his court had no jurisdiction and submitted Hathloul’s case to the Special Criminal Court (SCC), or anti-terrorism court, said al-Hathloul’s sister Lina.
“How can a judge realize the court has no jurisdiction after handling a case for 1 year and 8 months?” wrote Lina on Twitter.
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His condition is weak
Despite his frail health, Al Hathloul read out his four-page defense to the judge in a hearing Wednesday, his other sister Alia Al Hathloul said on Twitter.
The family added that her “ body was shaking uncontrollably and her voice was weak and trembling, ” when she appeared in court. He had been on a hunger strike for two weeks earlier this month.
Al Hathloul dan female activists Other Saudis were detained in 2018. Some of them admitted to having experienced physical and sexual abuse while in detention by a covered-faced interrogator.
The women said they were flogged on the back and thighs, electrocuted and doused with water. Several women said they were forcibly touched and groped, made to break the fast during the fasting month under threat of rape and death.
A woman tries to commit suicide in prison. While most of the women have been released pending trial, Al Hathloul and three other women activists are still in jail. Thus quoted from Associated Press.
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The group tracking his trial said only Al Hathloul’s case was referred to the Special Criminal Court. The court said it would open an investigation into his torture claim, his family said.
Last year, Saudi authorities notified Al Hathloul that he could be released if he signed a statement denying the abuse claim, the family said. If you refuse, you will be locked up in a cell or detention alone.
His cry for release echoed loudly
Al Hathloul has long been a defender of women’s rights in Saudi Arabia. His detention captured a lot of attention around the world calling for his unconditional release.
In 2014 he was detained for more than 70 days after trying to broadcast himself driving from the United Arab Emirates (UAE) to Saudi Arabia.
Back then it was still illegal for women to drive in the kingdom. He was arrested by Saudi authorities trying to cross the border and later released without trial.
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Al Hathloul’s family said in 2018 she was kidnapped by United Arab Emirates security forces in Abu Dhabi, shortly after attending a UN meeting in Geneva on the situation of women’s rights in Saudi Arabia.
Abu Dhabi is where he lives when pursuing a master’s degree. He was then forced to board a plane to Saudi Arabia, where he was barred from traveling abroad before his arrest months later.
When asked about his case last month, Saudi Foreign Minister Prince Faisal bin Farhan said that he and the other women on trial were not detained for their human rights activities but were “charged with serious crimes”.
He defended the Saudi court as an independent court, saying the activists’ release was left up to the court, not the government.
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