Saudi Arabia sentences woman to 34 years in jail over Twitter use
- Salma al-Shehab, a PhD candidate in the UK, is accused of aiding dissidents seeking to ‘disrupt public order’ and was arrested when she was back on holiday
- The sentence comes amid a crackdown on rights activists in the oil-rich Gulf state, many of whom have been slapped with prison sentences and travel bans
A Saudi court has sentenced a woman to 34 years in prison over her Twitter activity, according to court documents.
The sentence issued against Salma al-Shehab, for aiding dissidents seeking to “disrupt public order” in the kingdom, was handed down by the Saudi appeal court on August 9, the documents showed.
Al-Shehab, a PhD candidate at Britain’s University of Leeds and a mother of two, was also banned from travelling abroad for a further 34 years as part of the sentence.
With about 2,600 followers on Twitter, al-Shehab had frequently tweeted about women’s rights in the conservative Sunni Muslim country.
The sentence comes amid a crackdown on rights activists in the oil-rich Gulf state, many of whom have been slapped with jail sentences and travel bans.
