Saudi court upholds rights activist al-Hathloul's sentence at appeals hearing
RIYADH (Reuters) - A Saudi court on Tuesday upheld the original sentence of women’s rights activist Loujain al-Hathloul, who had championed women’s right to drive and for an end to Saudi Arabia’s male guardianship system. Hathloul was sentenced in December to nearly six years in prison under broad cybercrime and counterterrorism laws after a lengthy trial that drew widespread international condemnation, but she was released last month having served half of her custodial sentence. Walking to the courthouse on Wednesday morning before the appeals hearing, Hathloul, 31, told reporters she hoped Riyadh’s Special Criminal Court would amend her sentence - her first public comments since her 2018 arrest. The court, however, ruled that it would stand. Hathloul was detained in May 2018 and sentenced in December to nearly six years in prison on charges that United Nations rights experts called spurious. The court suspended two years and 10 months of her sentence, most of which had already been served. Hathloul, whose release is conditional, remains under a five-year travel ban. Hathloul rose to prominence in 2013 when she began publicly campaigning for women’s right to drive in Saudi Arabia, an absolute monarchy. Saudi law had previously banned women from driving but it was changed in June 2018, allowing them to do so.
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Saudi court upholds rights activist al-Hathloul's sentence at appeals hearing
RIYADH (Reuters) - A Saudi court on Tuesday upheld the original sentence of women’s rights activist Loujain al-Hathloul, who had championed women’s right to drive and for an end to Saudi Arabia’s male guardianship system.
Hathloul was sentenced in December to nearly six years in prison under broad cybercrime and counterterrorism laws after a lengthy trial that drew widespread international condemnation, but she was released last month having served half of her custodial sentence.
Walking to the courthouse on Wednesday morning before the appeals hearing, Hathloul, 31, told reporters she hoped Riyadh’s Special Criminal Court would amend her sentence - her first public comments since her 2018 arrest. The court, however, ruled that it would stand.
Hathloul was detained in May 2018 and sentenced in December to nearly six years in prison on charges that United Nations rights experts called spurious.
The court suspended two years and 10 months of her sentence, most of which had already been served. Hathloul, whose release is conditional, remains under a five-year travel ban.
Hathloul rose to prominence in 2013 when she began publicly campaigning for women’s right to drive in Saudi Arabia, an absolute monarchy.
Saudi law had previously banned women from driving but it was changed in June 2018, allowing them to do so.