Women’s rights activist Loujain al-Hathloul has been jailed in Saudi Arabia. She was sentenced to five years and eight months in prison, writes Reuters .
The woman was found guilty of “attempts to destabilize the kingdom.” “She is accused of having connections with countries that are unfriendly to the kingdom, as well as providing them with classified information,” said Saudi Arabia’s Foreign Minister Faisal bin Farhan Al Saud.
The court will take into account that the woman has already served a term of 2 years and 10 months. She spent this time in prison after her arrest. The 31-year-old activist was detained after numerous protests where she advocated giving women the right to drive cars.
The court’s decision was made despite pressure from international human rights organizations, Reuters notes. They repeatedly demanded the release of al-Khatlul and other arrested activists, but Riyadh did not respond to requests. Experts UN also called the charges far-fetched and called for the women to be released immediately.
The activist was arrested in May 2018, a few months before women in Saudi Arabia still allowed to get behind the wheel. Despite the adoption of the law, neither al-Khatlul, nor other activists were released. They have repeatedly reported torture in prison.
Saudi Arabia remained the only country in the world with a ban on driving for women since 1957. This forced families to hire drivers to move female family members around the city.