<\/p>\n
According to activists, a Saudi woman has been sentenced to 45 years in prison for her social media posts, the second such case this month.<\/p>\n
According to the rights group Dawn, a terrorism court convicted Nourah bint Saeed al-Qahtani of “using the Internet to tear the social fabric” and “violating public order by using social media.”<\/p>\n
Other than the fact that she criticized Saudi leaders, little is known about her.<\/p>\n
On August 9, another woman was sentenced to 34 years in prison for her Twitter activity.<\/p>\n
Dawn’s director of research for the Gulf region, Abdullah Alaoudh, told the BBC’s Newshour that the US-based learned of Qahtani’s case only after receiving court documents from a judicial source and that it was continuing to investigate.<\/p>\n
“There is no mention of any violence or criminal activity in her court documents,” he said.<\/p>\n
“The allegations against her are extremely broad. “They are employing counter-terrorism and anti-cybercrime legislation… which can criminalize any posting that is even remotely critical of the government,” he added.<\/p>\n
Since last year, several other female activists have reportedly been detained in connection with social media posts. Mr. Alaoudh expressed concern that they, too, could face lengthy prison sentences.<\/p>\n
“The Saudi government is sending a clear message to the West that it is unconcerned about human rights.”<\/p>\n
Mr. Alaoudh warned that it was “impossible not to draw a connection” between US President Joe Biden’s controversial meeting with Crown Prince Mohammed in Jeddah last month and “an increase in repressive attacks.”<\/p>\n
Mr. Biden previously threatened to declare Saudi Arabia a “pariah” for its human rights record.<\/p>\n
ALQST, a UK-based human rights , also expressed grave concern about Qahtani’s sentence, which it claimed was based on “tweets.”<\/p>\n
“As expected, we are witnessing an alarming deterioration in Saudi Arabia’s human rights situation,” it added.<\/p>\n
The Saudi Prisoners of Conscience account also confirmed the sentence, but there was no immediate response from Saudi authorities.<\/p>\n
Salma Al-Shehab, a Saudi Ph.D. student at Leeds University, was sentenced to 34 years in prison earlier this month.<\/p>\n
In January 2021, she was arrested while on vacation in Saudi Arabia and found guilty of “providing succor to those seeking to disrupt public order” and “publishing false and tendentious rumors.”<\/p>\n
Before leaving England, the 34-year-old mother of two had called for reforms and the release of prominent activists and intellectuals imprisoned as part of Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman’s anti-dissent crackdown.<\/p>\n
Until Qahtani’s sentence was reported, Shehab’s sentence was thought to be the longest ever handed down to a peaceful activist in the country.<\/p>\n
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