Saudi Liberal Lies And Crackdowns

Salma al-Shehab, is a mother of two and a Saudi citizen ....

Salma al-Shehab At The 2014
Riyadh International Book Fair

 ... she is also a member of the Shia minority in that country but a majority in other neighbouring states such as Sunni ruled Bahrain. So for many Sunni Muslims in the Saudi religious establishment and government, she is considered to be both a heretic, and potentially an agent for Shia Iran.

So, as she is well educated as a trained dental hygienist, and was a lecturer at the Princess Nourah University in Riyadh, as well as currently undertaking a Ph.D. at Leeds University, you would think she would be careful about what she said or did, given the Saudi regimes sensitivity over its image and internal security ... especially as harsh prison sentences have been handed out.

But in January 2021, she had called for reforms and the release of activists in the kingdom (such as Loujain al-Hathloul who was freed in February 2021, but can't leave Saudi Arabia), in some tweets or retweets to her 2,700 followers, and then flew back to Saudi Arabia for a family holiday. On the 15th of January 2021 she was arrested, and eventually charged with computer terrorism and anti-cybercrime offences (Saudi authorities have regularly warned that anyone spreading "baseless" rumours on social media could face up to five years in prison and a huge fine). At the end of 2021 she was given a 6 year prison sentence, but she appealed .... a mistake it turned out.

On the 9th of August 2022, an appeals court increased her prison term to 34 years, and also added a 34-year travel ban that would start following her eventual release. Its believed that a large number of young women, who were also reportedly detained around the same time as she was, and who have also been sentenced for similar offences, are now serving their initial prison sentences without appeals ... which it now appears is probably a good move.

The 34 year prison sentence (just for Tweeting support for a woman, who was actually released less than a month later), is the longest prison sentence given to a Saudi women’s rights defender. The Saudi government has so far not commented on the reports. But another woman, named as Nourah bint Saeed al-Qahtani (an academic, Professor [ironically] of Modern Literature and Criticism at the College of Arts, King Saudi University (KSU) also with a Ph.D. from Leeds University), has also been handed a sentence of 45 years in prison for her social media twitter posts, which the court said had been "using the internet to tear the social fabric" and "violating public order by using social media." .... what she actually tweeted is not reported.

The Fist Bump That Sent
Out The Wrong Message

Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman (MBS) has recently been courted by both the USA (President Biden visited the country in July 2022, after previously vowing to make Saudi Arabia a "pariah" over its human rights record), and MBS also visited France for a working dinner with President Macron and apparently his alleged role in the Jamal Khashoggi murder (which he denies any involvement in), is no longer an impediment to his plans.

Why Saudi Arabia still chooses to punish women who are only asking for such small freedoms (and which outside of Islam, are common place - at least in law, if not always in practise), is hard to fathom .... it certainly lays bare their shallow claims to be reforming and granting women more rights, and the bad international publicity surely outweighs any internal message these punishments send to Saudi women. As there are several other female activists reportedly detained in relation to social media posts this year, it is now feared that they will also be handed extremely lengthy prison sentences.

Surely a simple two or three weeks sentences or a fine for first offences, would probably serve just as well in sending an internal message to Saudi women, and to the international community, whilst not attracting much bad international publicity.