Saudi Woman Sentenced To 34 Years In Prison For Following Activists On Social Media

Leeds University student from Saudi Arabia Salma al-Shehab was been sentenced to 34 years in prison for having a Twitter account and following and retweeting activists and dissidents.

The 34-year-old Salma al-Shehab was initially sentenced to three years in prison by a special terrorist court. Shehab was accused of using the social media platform to “cause public unrest and destabilise civil and national security”. After the public prosecutor asked the court to consider other alleged crimes, an appeals court sentenced her to 34 years in prison instead. The court also gave her a 34-year travel ban.

Reportedly, the new charges against Shehab included the allegation that she was “assisting those who seek to cause public unrest and destabilise civil and national security by following their Twitter accounts”.

Salma al-Shehab Sentenced To Prison

Salma al-Shehab is not a vocal activist and has described herself on Instagram as a dental hygienist, medical educator, PhD student at Leeds University, and lecturer at Princess Nourah bint Abdulrahman University. Shehab is a wife and the mother of two sons, Noah and Adam.

Shehab had retweeted tweets by Saudi dissidents living in exile which called for the release of political prisoners in Saudi Arabia. Her Twitter account also seemingly supported Loujain al-Hathloul, a Saudi feminist activist that was imprisoned and is facing years of prohibition. Hathloul is also living under a travel ban.

Shehab was pursuing her PhD at Leeds University and returned to Saudi Arabia in December 2020 on a holiday. She was called in for questioning by Saudi authorities and eventually arrested and tried for her tweets. With 159 followers on Instagram and 2,597 followers on Twitter, Shehab is not a prominent activist in the country or abroad.

Reportedly, Shehab was held in solitary confinement at times and the verdict was signed by three judges. Her sentence of 34 years is one of the longest prison sentences given to a Saudi woman’s rights defender.

Human rights organisations such as the Human Rights Foundation, the European Saudi Organisation for Human Rights, The Freedom Initiative, and ALQST for Human Rights condemned the ruling and called for Shehab’s release.

Suggested Reading: 8 Things To Know About The Sentencing of Saudi Activist Loujain al-Hathloul