Loujain al-Hathloul, Saudi women’s rights activist, released from prison

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31-year-old Hathloul was arrested during a May 2018 sweep targeting known opponents of the kingdom’s now-repealed law prohibiting women from driving. She told her family that she had been tortured and sexually assaulted in prison – allegations that Riyadh has repeatedly denied – and that her detention was condemned by the United Nations and global human rights groups.
Last December, the Riyadh Specialized Criminal Court – a terror tribunal – sentenced Hathloul to five years and eight months in prison, including a two-year and 10-month suspension, according to a statement from her family. With the time she had already served, the conviction paved the way for Hathloul’s release on Wednesday.

Hathloul will remain on probation for another three years after her release, during which time she can be arrested for any alleged illegal activity, the family said in a statement in December. She also won’t be allowed to travel for five years, they said.

Hathloul’s release comes less than a week after the White House called on the kingdom to release political prisoners, including women’s rights activists. President Joe Biden has vowed to pressure Saudi Arabia to improve its rights record, rejecting former President Donald Trump’s reluctance to criticize the kingdom’s increased crackdown on dissent. opinions in recent years.

“We are excited (about her release), but the fight for justice is not over yet,” Hathloul’s brother, Walid al-Hathloul, told CNN before the announcement. “We would have to work very hard to get justice for Leuven, but we are very happy with this news.”

The family has urged people not to say that Hathloul has been ‘released’.

“Any release that does not include an independent investigation of the charge does not include the lifting of the travel ban, does not include the removal of the charge, is not freedom,” said Walid al-Hathloul. “That is why we are a long way from justice.”

The terrorist court convicted Hathloul on charges of harming national security, trying to change the Saudi political system, and using her relationships with foreign governments and rights groups to “pressurize the Kingdom to enforce its laws and systems. change, “according to a complaint form from her family. published earlier in December.

UN experts called the allegations “false”. In a six-page indictment form for Hathloul’s case seen by CNN, a section entitled “ Crimes committed ” includes activism against the kingdom’s restrictive male custody laws, along with contact with foreign journalists and diplomats.
The charges were also based on a series of alleged confessions, according to the documents, stating that Hathloul admitted to applying for a job at the UN, along with a confession of being in contact with human rights organizations Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch.

For much of her imprisonment, Hathloul told her parents about her hardships during their prison visits. These allegations were later made public by three of her siblings living outside the kingdom, and were corroborated by testimony from other women activists.

Hathloul said she was sexually assaulted and tortured during her detention, including waterboarding, flogging and electrocution, according to multiple statements from her family and supporters.

Saudi authorities have repeatedly denied allegations of torture and sexual abuse in their prisons.

Hathloul has gone on hunger strike twice, according to her family – in protest at the conditions in her prison and because she was denied communication with her relatives.

A 2019 report from the American Bar Association Center for Human Rights said that although the Saudi Terrorism Court was established in 2008 to prosecute detainees for terrorism, the caseload was rapidly expanding from alleged violent extremists to political dissidents, religious minorities and human rights activists. . The report concluded that the court “routinely convicts individuals of terrorism charges without any meaningful evidence.”

Earlier this week, a Saudi appeals court dismissed Hathloul’s torture claims, the family said on Twitter.

During her detention, Hathloul received multiple awards, including the 2019 PEN America Prize. According to Amnesty International, two other women’s rights activists arrested alongside Hathloul – Nassima al-Sada and Maya’a al-Zahrani – are in custody. Sada is also a PEN America award recipient.

Hathloul’s siblings, who were driving an international campaign for her release, posted a photo of their sister at home on Wednesday. “Oh mother, oh mother, this is the best day of my life. Leuven is at my home”, tweeted Alia al-Hathloul. “We made it, brothers and sisters … we got her out.”

This story has been updated with additional information.

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