Shehab had been active on the social media platform during campaigns calling for the abolition of the country’s guardianship system, which gives men legal control over certain aspects of the lives of female relatives. She had called for the release of Saudi prisoners of conscience.
According to court records obtained by The Washington Post, Shehab was accused of using a social media website “to disrupt public order, to harm the security of society and the stability of the state, and to support those who had committed acts criminal under the law against terrorism and its financing.”
The documents said she supported such individuals “by following their social media accounts and retweeting their tweets,” and that she spread false rumors. The documents went on to say that after she appealed an initial sentence, it was decided that her prison term was too short “considering her crimes” and that her previous sentence failed to “achieve limitation and deterrence”.
In addition to a 34-year sentence and a 34-year travel ban, which begins after the prison sentence ends, the court ordered that her mobile phone be confiscated and her Twitter account be “permanently closed”.
The charges are familiar: Sowing rebellion and destabilizing the state are charges often used against activists in the kingdom who speak out against the status quo. Saudi Arabia has long used its anti-terrorism law against citizens whose protests are deemed unacceptable, especially if they criticize the de facto ruler, Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman.
In late 2021, the original verdict against Shehab gave her six years in prison. When she appealed, however, it was increased to 34 – the longest sentence in the country against a peaceful activist, according to some human rights groups.
Rights groups have repeatedly warned against the government’s recent use of the anti-terrorism law. In April, Human Rights Watch said laws such as the “grossly abusive anti-terrorism law and the cybercrime law include vague and overbroad provisions that have been widely interpreted and abused.” Judgments are also often characterized by inconsistent and harsh sentences.
While the punishment includes shutting down her Twitter account, at least one human rights group is trying to make sure it is not shut down, said Lina al-Hathloul, head of monitoring and communications at ALQST, a Saudi rights group. based in London.
“Now we’re working with Twitter to not shut it down or to make them aware that at least if they’re being asked to shut it down, it’s coming from the Saudi government and not her,” she said. Twitter did not respond to a request for comment from The Post.
In its statement on Tuesday, the European Saudi Organization for Human Rights, which tracks arrests in the kingdom, said the decision to sentence Shehab under the anti-terrorism law “confirms that Saudi Arabia is dealing with reformers and critics on social media as terrorists”.
The group said the ruling sets a dangerous precedent and shows that Saudi Arabia’s widely lauded efforts to modernize the kingdom and improve women’s rights “are not serious and fall within the scope of the smear campaign it is waging to improve its records.” of her human rights”.
Before her arrest, Shehab was a lecturer at Princess Nourah University in the Saudi capital, Riyadh, and a PhD student in her final year at Britain’s University of Leeds. She was carrying out exploratory research there into new techniques in oral and dental medicine and their applications in Saudi Arabia, said a colleague who worked with her in Leeds.
The person, who spoke on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the case, described Shehab as a “wonderful” and “generous” colleague – “the type of person who always brings sweets”.
She never spoke publicly about politics, the colleague added, often talking about her children and showing photos of them to friends and colleagues. She “missed her family a lot”.
Shehab returned to Saudi Arabia in late 2019 and never returned to school in Britain. At first, this did not alarm anyone, given the long period of coronavirus lockdowns that began in March 2020 in England. But eventually, her colleague said, people started asking, “Has anyone heard from Salma?”
“It was a shock to all of us because we thought, ‘How can a person like her be arrested?’ said the person.
A University of Leeds spokesperson told The Post via email, “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.”
“Our thoughts remain with Salma, her family and her friends among our close-knit community of postgraduate scholars,” the spokesperson added.
When asked whether it was monitoring Shehab’s case or was involved in any efforts to secure her release, the British Foreign Office told The Post via email that “ministers and senior officials have repeatedly raised concerns about the detention of Defenders of Women’s Rights with the Saudi authorities and will continue to do so.”
Shehab belongs to the minority Shia sect of Islam – seen by many hardline Sunni Muslims as a heretic and whose followers in Saudi Arabia are often automatically viewed with suspicion by Sunni authorities.
Saudi Arabia has often been criticized for its treatment of the Shiite minority. Earlier this year, New York-based Human Rights Watch said in its annual human rights report that the kingdom “systematically discriminates against Muslim religious minorities,” including Shiites.
Shehab’s last Twitter activity was on January 13, 2021, two days before her arrest, when she retweeted a classical Arabic song about missing a lover’s company.
On her Twitter page, which remains active, she has a tweet attached to a prayer asking for forgiveness if she has ever unknowingly trespassed against another human being and asking God to help her reject injustice and help those facing to.
The tweet ends with “freedom for prisoners of conscience and for every oppressed person in the world.”
Timsit reported from France.
