DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — A Saudi court has sentenced a graduate student to 34 years in prison for “spreading rumours” and retweeting dissidents, according to court documents obtained on Thursday, a decision increasingly condemned around the world.
Activists and lawyers say the verdict against Salma al-Shehab, a mother of two and a researcher at Leeds University in the UK, is shocking even by Saudi justice standards.
The ruling, previously unrecognized by the kingdom, comes amid Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman’s crackdown on dissent, even as his rule grants women the right to drive and other new freedoms in the ultra-conservative Islamic nation.
Al-Shehab was arrested during a family holiday in January 2021, just days before she was scheduled to return to the UK, according to the Freedom Initiative, a Washington-based human rights group.
Al-Shehab told judges she was detained for over 285 days before her case even went to trial, legal documents obtained by The Associated Press show.
The Freedom Initiative describes al-Shehab as a member of Saudi Arabia’s Shia Muslim minority, which has long complained of systematic discrimination in the Sunni-ruled kingdom.
“Saudi Arabia has bragged to the world about improving women’s rights and creating legal reforms, but with that outrageous phrase, there’s no question the situation is only getting worse,” said Bethany al-Haidari, the group’s Saudi case manager .
Since Prince Mohammed came to power in 2017, he has accelerated efforts to diversify the kingdom’s economy away from oil with massive tourism projects – most recently he plans to construct the world’s longest buildings, stretching more than 100 miles across the desert would extend. But he was also criticized for his arrests of non-conformists, including dissidents and activists, but also princes and businessmen.
Judges accused al-Shehab of “disturbing public order” and “destabilizing the social fabric” — allegations that an official indictment said were solely due to her social media activities. They claimed al-Shehab followed and retweeted dissident accounts on Twitter and “spreading false rumours.”
A Special Court for Terrorism and National Security Crimes handed down the unusually harsh 34-year sentence, followed by a 34-year travel ban. The decision came earlier this month when al-Shehab appealed her original six-year sentence.
“The sentence (six years) imposed on the accused was light given her crimes,” a prosecutor told the Court of Appeals. “I am calling for the verdict to be reversed in light of your support for those trying to create disorder and destabilize society, as demonstrated by your following and retweeting (Twitter) accounts.”
The Saudi government in Riyadh and its embassies in Washington and London did not respond to a request for comment.
Leeds University confirmed that al-Shehab was in her final year of doctoral studies at medical school.
“We are deeply concerned to learn of this latest development in Salma’s case and we are seeking advice on whether there is anything we can do to support her,” the university said.
Al-Shehab’s conviction also caught the attention of Washington, where the State Department said Wednesday it was “studying the case.”
“Exercising freedom of speech to advocate for women’s rights should not be criminalized, it should never be criminalized,” State Department spokesman Ned Price said.
Last month, US President Joe Biden traveled to the oil-rich kingdom and held talks with Prince Mohammed, during which he said he had raised human rights concerns. Their meeting – and the much-criticized fist bump – marked a sharp reversal from Biden’s earlier vow to make the kingdom a “pariah” over the 2018 killing of Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi.
During her appeal, al-Shehab said the harsh sentence was tantamount to the “destruction of me, my family, my future and the future of my children.” She has two boys aged 4 and 6.
She told the judges she had no idea that simply retweeting posts “out of curiosity and to observe others’ points of view” from a personal account with no more than 2,000 followers constituted terrorism.
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Associated Press writer Matthew Lee in Washington contributed to this report.