A female Saudi Arabian activist has been sentenced to 34 years in prison for posting dissident tweets on social media despite being relatively peaceful, a decision that has sparked fear among the government's detractors.
The woman, identified as Salma al-Shehab, was first detained in January 2021 in Saudi Arabia, where she was on vacation, a few days before she was set to return to her home in Britain. The charges against the 33-year-old Saudi citizen and mother of two all revolved around her Twitter account activity, based on court documents.
Female Saudi Arabian Activist
The activist has been active on the social media platform during campaigns and has demanded the abolition of the country's guardianship system, which gives men legal control over certain aspects of female relatives' lives. Al-Shehab also called for the freeing of Saudi prisoners of conscience.
However, despite promises by authorities, Saudi executions have already nearly doubled from last year. Court records showed that Shehab was accused of using a social media website "to disrupt public order, undermine the security of society and stability of the state, and support those who had committed criminal actions according to the counterterrorism law and its financing," as per the Washington Post.
The defendant was studying at Leeds University in the UK before going home to Saudi Arabia for a vacation in December 2020. She was first sentenced to three years but was sentenced to more time on Monday by an appeals court.
It was reported that al-Shehab did not have a large online following on the social media platform, having only around 2,500 followers, and was not known for being an activist, with many of her tweets being about her own children.
According to Business Insider, Twitter had declined to comment on the female activist's case as the Saudi Arabian government holds a significant investment in the social media platform. Both the European Saudi Organization for Human Rights and Freedom Initiative said that al-Shehab's sentence was the longest prison sentence given to an activist.
Crackdown on Dissidents
They argued that the decision could signal more crackdowns on dissent as human rights groups said that Saudi Arabia frequently arrests individuals who voice disagreements with the government, sometimes years after they made any public criticisms.
The situation includes the arrest of dozens of people when Mohammed bin Salman, also known as MBS, became crown prince in 2017. The recently elected leader has since been considered the kingdom's de facto ruler.
In 2020, two senior Saudis were arrested for not supporting bin Salman, said sources close to the royal family at the time. MBS has also imprisoned many high-profile political figures whom he considered to be a threat to his grip on power.
Now, the United States is looking into al-Shehab's case, with State Department spokesperson Ned Price saying at a press conference that, "exercising freedom of expression to advocate for the rights of women should not be criminalized."
The defendant is believed to have been flagged to the Saudi government through a crime reporting app for following and retweeting activists and dissidents. Also, the court ruled that her phone and Twitter account were to be confiscated and deleted, The Hill reported.
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