Saudi Woman Sentenced To 45 Years In Prison For Social Media Posts

A Saudi woman was sentenced to 45 years in prison over social media posts that “violate the public order”. The woman’s conviction comes weeks after Salma al-Shehab was sentenced to 35 years in prison for using Twitter.

The Saudi woman Nourah bint Saeed al-Qahtani was convicted by the Specialised Criminal Court (SCC). The court determined that Qahtani used the internet for purposes illegal in the country.

According to documents obtained and reviewed by Democracy for the Arab World Now (DAWN), Qahtani was likely convicted within the last week by the SCC on charges of “breaking the social fabric” by criticising Saudi rulers and “violating public order by using social media”. Qahtani was also charged for “producing and storing of materials impinging on public order and religious values”.

Saudi Woman Sentenced To 45 Years In Prison

Only a few details are known about Nourah bint Saeed al-Qahtani. The circumstances around her arrest and conviction are still unknown. The director for the Gulf region at DAWN, Abdullah Alaoudh said it appeared that Qahtani was imprisoned for “simply tweeting her opinions”.

Alaoudh added that DAWN was coming forward with the news in hopes that people who know Qahtani might provide information about the case. He added that in the cases of Shehab and Qahtani, the authorities used "abusive" laws to target and punish the citizens for criticising the government on social media.

Earlier this month, a Leeds University student Salma al-Shehab was sentenced to 34 years in prison for following and retweeting activists and dissidents on Twitter. The mother-of-two occasionally retweeted tweets by Saudi dissidents that demanded the liberation of political prisoners in Saudi Arabia.

Shehab also appeared to support Loujain al-Hathloul, a Saudi feminist activist who was imprisoned for advocating for the right of women to drive.

The 34-year-old Shehab was accused of using Twitter to “cause public unrest and destabilize civil and national security”. She was initially sentenced to three years in prison and an appeal court sentenced her to 34 years in prison instead. Shehab was also given a 34-year travel ban. An alliance of more than 30 rights groups called on the international community to pressure Saudi Arabia into releasing Shehab.

Suggested Reading: Who Is Salma al-Shehab? Saudi Woman Gets 34-Year Prison Term For Using Twitter