Current Events > Saudi woman sentenced to 34 years in prison for Twitter activity

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She went home for a vacation. Now a Saudi woman is facing 34 years in prison for sharing her views on social media, human rights groups say, in a case they have condemned as the latest worrying sign of the kingdom's crackdown on dissent.

Salma al-Shehab, a 34-year-old mother of two, was an active Twitter user while studying for a doctoral degree at the University of Leeds School of Medicine in the United Kingdom. She posted her own tweets about human rights issues as well as retweeting activists.

Al-Shehab, who is a Saudi citizen, was arrested while visiting her home in January 2021, according to multiple human rights groups based in Europe and the United States.

After initially being sentenced to six years in jail, the sentence was increased to a record 34 years earlier this month following her appeal, the rights groups said. Al-Shehab was also slapped with a 34-year travel ban that will take effect following her release, they said.

The charges against her included sedition and spreading false and malicious rumors on Twitter, according to the European Saudi Organization for Human Rights, a Berlin-based group critical of the Saudi government.

They charged her for 34 years over 280 characters, Nada Zamel, ESOHRs head of advocacy, told NBC News.

She said the tweets that got al-Shehab into trouble were relatively anodyne, expressing support for freedom of speech and the lifting of rules that limit freedom for women in Saudi Arabia.

Zamel added that the sentence raises concerns about other activists facing similar charges.

Given the harsh sentence for an account with only around 2,000 followers, Zamel said, imagine what will happen to other activists who were arrested in the same period. Though she noted al-Shehab can still appeal to the Saudi supreme court.

The Freedom Initiative, a Washington, D.C.-based group that advocates for prisoners in the Middle East and North Africa, said it had seen court documents that showed she had complained of abuse and threats while in detention due to her background as a Shia Muslim, a minority community in Saudi Arabia.

Al-Shehab, who comes from the Shia Muslim minority, also said she faced sectarian harassment, including insults to her religion and family, the group said in a press release, adding that this suggested religious discrimination may have played a role in her draconian sentencing."

The Saudi Embassy in London and the Saudi Ministry of Media did not respond to requests for the details of and comment on al-Shehabs case. NBC News has also reached out to the Saudi embassy for comment on the allegations that Al-Shehab was abused while in detention.

A spokesperson from the University of Leeds said in a statement: We are deeply concerned to learn of this recent development in Salmas case and we are seeking advice on whether there is anything we can do to support her. Our thoughts remain with Salma, her family, and her friends among our close-knit community of postgraduate researchers.

'Getting worse by the day'
Bethany Alhaidari, the Saudi case manager at the Freedom Initiative, described al-Shehabs tweeting style as sweet and diplomatic rather than fiery or aggressive.

One of the causes al-Shehab supported was that of imprisoned womens rights activist Loujain al-Hathloul, who drew global headlines for her campaign to get women the right to drive in Saudi Arabia.

Al-Hathlouls sister, Lina, was one of the activist accounts that al-Shehab retweeted in the months before her arrest. Shes now head of monitoring and communications for ALQST, a group that focuses on human rights in Saudi Arabia. In an interview, she said the sentence shows that Saudi Arabias promises on womens rights reforms are only words, its ink on paper, and that the situation of women and womens rights activists is not improving, but getting worse by the day.

Al-Hathloul said its difficult to know how al-Shehab will be treated in jail, but that we have heard of many cases of womens rights activists being tortured in prison, being held in solitary confinement, and threatened with rape.

Alhaidari said her organization was seeing a shift toward harsher penalties for dissent in Saudi Arabia, which she attributes to Western countries welcoming Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman back into the fold following a period of estrangement after the murder of Jamal Khashoggi.

This is a new shift that is a consequence, a direct consequence, of the international community kind of brushing aside horrible human rights violations, she said.

President Joe Biden bumped fists with the crown prince during a visit to the Saudi coastal city of Jeddah last month that outraged critics of the desert kingdoms de facto ruler, while former President Donald Trump recently hosted a Saudi-backed breakaway golf tour event at his course in Bedminster, New Jersey.

Asked about al-Shehabs case during a briefing Wednesday, State Department spokesman Ned Price said that exercising freedom of expression to advocate for the rights of women should not be criminalized; it should never be criminalized.

Price added that far from, I think, giving Saudi Arabia license to act with greater impunity, our engagement with the Saudi government has made clear the fact that human rights is central to our agenda. It is always on our agenda, and it is always high on our agenda.

A White House spokesperson said: We are studying the case and the sentence. As a general matter, exercising freedom of expression to advocate for the rights of women should not be criminalized.

The spokesperson added that while in Saudi Arabia in July the president privately and publicly underscored the United States conviction that respect for and promotion of human rights and fundamental freedoms promotes stability and strengthens national security.

Twitter declined to comment on al-Shehabs case.

The lengths that Saudi Arabia appears willing to go to use social media to crack down on criticism were also on display last week, when a jury in California found a former Twitter employee guilty on charges relating to him helping Saudi Arabia access dissidents personal information.

Al-Shehab was also slapped

Fuck up. Also fucked that someone must have been following her and ratted her out to some government officials given she didn't have a ton of followers or notoriety

Backwards country seriously

Pro golfers be like "Yeah that's pretty bad, but the Saudi government pays much better than the PGA Tour"

After initially being sentenced to six years in jail, the sentence was increased to a record 34 years earlier this month following her appeal

Fucking wat

It's actually a double sentence since even after 34 years in prison, she can't legally exit SA for 34 more years. Unless she gets out of this, her life is fucked

Something you agree with: "I love cultural differences!"

Something you disagree with: "OMG why are they like that?!!?!!!?"

lmao

Suddenly CE thinks free speech is a good thing.

Something you agree with: "I love cultural differences!"

Something you disagree with: "OMG why are they like that?!!?!!!?"

lmao

Your kind would love America to turn into a version of that shithole.

It's actually a double sentence since even after 34 years in prison, she can't legally exit SA for 34 more years. Unless she gets out of this, her life is fucked

Cute.

Something you agree with: "I love cultural differences!"

Something you disagree with: "OMG why are they like that?!!?!!!?"

lmao

You wouldn't know freedom if it spit in your face. Freedom for your kind. Guess I can fuck off and die or something. Just like Saudi Arabia, we refuse to throw away religion. The non-believers are not allowed.

Yes, left wing atheists like me frequently hold up the likes of Saudi Arabia as an exemplar our of secular humanist values.

You don't know what you're talking about. You're just making baseless assumptions all willy nilly.

Hmm you'd think a left-winger would know not to carry water for the GOP that loves to throw the Saudi Arabia football at the Dems despite being ruled by the Trump family, which makes billions off SA and regularly praises them. And before you go "both sides", yes at the government level I know both parties accept very shitty foreign actions.

How many left-wingers that you see online are actually supporting that shithole?

You keep quoting me but I'm not sure who you're talking to. If you can find anything I've said in support of brutally repressive Saudi government policies or cultural practices, I'd like to see it.

You keep quoting me but I'm not sure who you're talking to. If you can find anything I've said in support of brutally repressive Saudi government policies or cultural practices, I'd like to see it.

Then why, exactly, are you in here wringing your hands over this shit?

Getting banned from Twitter for Twitter posts =\= 34 years imprisonment for Twitter posts.

Please tell me you understand that.

You did the "herp derp now CE loves free speech" shit. It seemed that you were using a horrible action by an oppressive government to dunk on the libs and some perceived hypocrisy. It came off as a weird deflection, for whatever reason you did it.

Then why, exactly, are you in here wringing your hands over this shit?

When would you prefer I point out that the so called left doesnt actually care about free speech? You dont have an argument why Im wrong because this sort of shit is exactly why free speech is important, so you moan about the timing.

Getting banned from Twitter for Twitter posts =\= 34 years imprisonment for Twitter posts.

Please tell me you understand that.

Your free speech is not violated if you get banned from Twitter. Your free speech is violated if your tweets get you sent to jail.

Full stop, you desperately need to understand that.

I apologize that my statement of objective fact is jarring to your delusional reality.