In Saudi Arabia, a woman was sentenced to 45 years in prison for posts on Twitter. This is the second case of such an incident in August.
This is reported by the BBC.
The Terrorism Court found Noura bint Saeed al-Qahtani guilty of "using the Internet to disrupt the social structure" and "violating public order using social networks." Little is known about her, except that she criticized the leaders of Saudi Arabia.
“Nothing in her court documents refers to any violence or criminal activity. The charges against her are really big. They are using the Anti-Terrorism Act and the Anti-Cybercrime Act, which can criminalize any publication that is even remotely critical of the government,” noted Abdullah Alaoud, director of Gulf research at the Dawn Human Rights Center.
British human rights group ALQST also expressed serious concern about Qahtaniʼs sentence, which was "based on her tweets".
"As feared, we are witnessing an alarming deterioration in the human rights situation in Saudi Arabia," the report said.
Earlier in August, Salma al-Shehab, a Saudi graduate student at the University of Leeds, was sentenced to 34 years in prison. She called on social networks for reforms and the release of prominent activists and intellectuals imprisoned during the crackdown on dissent under the watch of Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman. Al-Shehabʼs prison term was the longest ever handed down to a peaceful activist in the country until Qahtaniʼs imprisonment became known.
- In November, the first ever womenʼs football league started in Saudi Arabia, the start of which was postponed due to the coronavirus pandemic.
- In August 2019, Saudi Arabia allowed women to travel independently. Later, women were allowed to serve in the army in military ranks.