The Saudi flag. (Credit: AFP)
Saudi Arabia has released Salma al-Shehab, a Ph.D. student and activist who was detained for more than four years over critical tweets about the government, human rights organizations announced. Her release comes amid a series of recent moves by Saudi authorities to free activists and dissidents.
Saudi authorities freed Shehab "after four years of arbitrary detention for her peaceful activism," the London-based rights group ALQST said Saturday on X. "We call for the authorities to grant her full freedom, including the right to travel to pursue her Ph.D. at the University of Leeds in the UK," the group added.
"Four years of arbitrary detention"
Sanad, another London-based rights organization, confirmed her release, stating that "Saudi authorities freed Salma al-Shehab after more than four years of arbitrary detention" and emphasizing that she had been arrested "for tweets calling for reforms and the release of prisoners of conscience."
In 2022, Shehab, a mother of two, was initially sentenced to six years in prison for aiding "those seeking to disturb public order" and for "spreading false information." An appeals court later increased her sentence to 34 years before it was reduced to 27 years and then to four, along with a travel ban.
With about 2,600 followers on X, Shehab regularly posted messages in support of women's rights in the ultraconservative kingdom. She is part of the Shiite Muslim minority and originally from al-Mubarraz in eastern Saudi Arabia.
Travel ban outside Saudi Arabia
Lina al-Hathloul, ALQST’s communications director, said Shehab "went through a harrowing period of detention and did not see her two young children during that time." She told AFP that the Ph.D. student staged a hunger strike in March 2023, lasting several weeks, to demand medical care in prison.
"Her release does not mean freedom, as living under a travel ban is akin to living under the constant threat of re-arrest," Hathloul said.
Under the leadership of Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, Saudi Arabia has granted new rights to women, including the ability to drive and travel alone. However, the kingdom continues to face criticism from rights groups over its crackdown on dissidents and feminist activists.
Several activists have received harsh prison sentences, including feminist activist Manahel al-Otaibi, who was sentenced to 11 years, and Nourah al-Qahtani, who is serving a 45-year term. Since December, Saudi authorities have also released academic Malik al-Ahmad and preacher Mohammed al-Mutairi, both arrested during a wave of crackdowns in September 2017.