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Woman Jailed In Saudi Arabia Over Twitter Post

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Woman Jailed In Saudi Arabia Over Twitter Post

Salma al-Shebab, a Saudi student at Leeds University who was reportedly returning to the UK for vacation when she was detained, was sentenced to 34 years in prison for using a Twitter account and for following and retweeting dissident individuals.

As a result of tweets she sent out advocating for women’s rights in Saudi Arabia, the mother of two was charged with using Twitter to stir up public disturbance and undermine civil and national security.

According to The Daily Mail, after the activist appealed her sentence, a Saudi terrorism court increased Al-Shebab’s sentence from six years to 34 years in prison. Al-Shebab has two young sons who are four and six years old.

According to reports, after serving her sentence in prison, she will be subject to a 34-year travel ban.

Al-Shebab was reportedly detained in Saudi Arabia in January 2021 while on vacation, just as she was about to go back to the UK to finish her PhD at the University of Leeds.

In rendering its decision, the court reportedly referred to Al-Shebab’s social media posts, in which she tweeted in favour of women’s rights in Saudi Arabia and expressed solidarity for activists who have been imprisoned.

According to reports, she was detained after sharing a tweet from Lina Al-Hathloul.

Al-Shebab’s Twitter post read, “Freedom for Loujain Al-Hathloul … Freedom for all prisoners of conscience. Your freedom is my first wish for this New Year – Happy New Year.”

She was charged with ‘providing succour to those seeking to disrupt public order and undermine the safety of the general public and stability of the state, and publishing false and tendentious rumours on Twitter‘.

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