ZCZC
BFF-03
SAUDI-RIGHTS-POLITICS
Saudi woman activist loses court appeal against sentence
RIYADH, March 11, 2021 (BSS/AFP) – Saudi activist Loujain al-Hathloul on
Wednesday lost a court appeal against a prison sentence as well as
restrictions including a five-year travel ban, her family said, following her
provisional release from jail.
Hathloul, 31, best known for campaigning against a decades-long Saudi ban
on female drivers, was detained in May 2018 with about a dozen other women
activists — just weeks before the ban was lifted.
In late December, a court handed Hathloul a prison term of five years and
eight months for terrorism-related crimes, but a partially suspended sentence
— and time already served — paved the way for her early release last month.
Hathloul was released on probation and is barred from leaving Saudi Arabia
for five years.
“The judge denied the appeal and confirmed the sentence to five years and
eight months in prison, which includes three years of probation and five
years of a travel ban, during which Loujain cannot leave Saudi Arabia at any
time,” the activist’s family said in a statement.
Saudi authorities have not officially commented on her detention, trial or
release.
In one of her first public comments since her detention, Hathloul told
foreign diplomats gathered outside Riyadh’s anti-terrorism court ahead of the
hearing: “Let’s hope that the sentence has been changed or modified a little
bit.”
– ‘Abuse of power’ –
US President Joe Biden has vowed to press Saudi Arabia harder on human
rights and recently declassified an intelligence report into the brutal
killing of journalist Jamal Khashoggi inside the kingdom’s Istanbul
consulate.
A State Department spokesperson said the United States would keep pushing
for the freedom of Hathoul and other women’s rights activists in detention in
Saudi Arabia.
“We do not believe that Ms. al-Hathloul, her family or others who have
been provisionally released should be subject to travel bans or other
restrictions,” the spokesperson said.
The Biden administration has “made clear that human rights will be a
priority in our bilateral relationship with Saudi Arabia,” the spokesperson
said.
Her siblings expressed disappointment over the decision to uphold the
sentence.
“The confirmation of the sentence of my sister Loujain is yet another
confirmation of the abuse of power of the Saudi authorities,” said Lina al-
Hathloul, the activist’s sister.
Amnesty International condemned the decision as an “appalling injustice”.
“Today’s verdict is just the latest demonstration of Saudi Arabia’s intent
to continue crushing all forms of dissent inside the country,” said Lynn
Maalouf, Amnesty’s deputy director for the Middle East and North Africa.
“By failing to quash Loujain al-Hathloul’s conviction, the Saudi Arabian
authorities have clearly demonstrated that they consider peaceful activism a
crime and consider activists to be traitors or spies.”
Hathloul’s siblings based overseas, including Lina, say her parents are
also barred from leaving the kingdom even though they are not charged with
any crime.
Hathloul’s family has alleged the activist experienced torture and sexual
harassment in detention, claims repeatedly dismissed by a Saudi court.
While some women activists detained along with Hathloul have been
provisionally released, several others remain imprisoned on what campaigners
describe as opaque charges.
The detentions have cast a spotlight on the human rights record of the
kingdom, an absolute monarchy.
BSS/AFP/FI/0800 hrs