Saudi Arabia's PhD student at the University of Leeds has been released from Saudi Arabia prison after her sentence due to critical activity on social media has been reduced, activists said.
Salma al-Shehab, a 36-year-old mother, was arrested in 2021 while on vacation in the Gulf of Persian.
Later, it was closed by a terrorism tribunal for six years because of a supposedly “disturbing public order” and “destabilization of social tissue” because of publications calling for reforms and release of activists.
The sentence was increased to 34 years before it was twice decreased in appeal – first to 27 years, and then up to four years with an additional four years. There was no immediate confirmation by the Saudi authorities.
The release of Shehab was first reported by Alqst, based in the United Kingdom, a Saudi Arabian rights group, which said it was subjected to “four years of arbitrary imprisonment based on its peaceful activism”.
“Her complete freedom must now be granted, including the right to travel in order to complete her study at the University of Leeds,” she adds.
Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, a factual ruler of Saudi Arabia, has observed a widespread repression of disagreement over the last eight years, with peace critics in social media with prolonged sentences or even the death penal S
Shehab, dental hygienist and medical teacher who was in the last year of his studies at the University of Leeds, publishes or diverts several messages calling for reforms and releases prominent activists, clergy and other intellectuals before traveling to the kingdom Five years ago.
A publication praised as a “prisoners of conscience” a group of leading activists for the rights of women who were detained just before the ban on women from driving in 2018 and were later convicted of crimes against the state.
The Middle East researcher of Amnesty International, Dana Ahmed, said Shehab was convicted of accusations of terrorism, “just because he twists in support of women's rights and reture women for women's rights in Saudi Arabia.”
“While today is a day to celebrate Salma's release, it is also an opportunity to think about many others that come up with such long sentences in Saudi Arabia about their activities online,” she added.
“This includes other women as such as Machhel Al-Ootaibi and Nura Al Kakhtani, imprisoned for the speech of women's rights, and Abdulrahman Al Sadhan, imprisoned for 20 years for satirical tweets.”
The BBC contacted the Saudi Foreign Ministry and the University of Leeds for comment.