Saudi Arabia: CFWIJ Condemns The Charges Against Loujain Al-Hathloul And Demands Her Immediate Release
Location: Saudi Arabia
Date: December 29, 2020
PHOTO CREDIT: BBC
Saudi women’s rights defender and prisoner of conscience Loujain al-Hathloul, who spent nearly three years in arbitrary pre-trial detention, sentenced to five years and eight months in prison after being charged with espionage foreign agendas and conspiring against the kingdom. The Coalition For Women In Journalism (CFWIJ) urges the Saudi authorities to release her immediately. Being an activist and defending fundamental rights is not a crime.
The court suspended two years and 10 months of her sentence and assumed the start of her sentence to May 2018, which means she will serve three months in prison. Loujain has been imprisoned since May 2018. Since June 6, Loujain hasn't contacted her family or sent them letters. Loujain’s family launched a social media campaign inquiring about her condition, calling upon the regime to either allow them to contact and visit her or to issue a statement clarifying her health condition.
On November 24, 2020, Loujain’s family was informed with a short notice that Loujain would stand trial on November 25, 2020. The short notice left her lawyers nearly no time to prepare their defence nor consult with Loujain.
Loujain announced a hunger strike on October 27, protesting the treatment she faced in prison and her deprivation of basic human rights. Due to the hunger strike, Loujain appeared quite weak in court in November, her voice trembling, while she shook uncontrollably, according to her sister Lina Al-Hathloul.
The kingdom defended that the arrest of Loujain was not because of the campaign she supported the right to drive women, whereas launching a campaign to undermine the royal family. The accusation also included her job application to the United Nations (UN), as well as meeting with British and other European diplomats. Loujain was also charged in speaking to foreign media and international human rights groups.
Other accusations included spending € 50 per day from foreign organizations while attending international conferences to join a group in Telegram, the messaging app where she discussed human rights and a new constitution, liaise with human rights advocate Khaled al-Omair, and talk about women.
After being in detention for more than two years, the Saudis waited until they hosted the G20 summit in November to refer the case to the specialized criminal court.
Loujain began her commitment activism in 2012 to demand women’s right to drive in Saudi Arabia. Coming from a progressive family, she received immense support from her father to freely campaign for women’s rights.
CFWIJ remains immensely concerned about the safety of Loujain and prisoners of conscience. We call upon the UN and all human rights mechanisms to keep a close eye on her trial and to urge the regime to release women's human rights defenders and prisoners of conscience immediately.
The CFWIJ strongly condemns the police brutality against journalists. We demand the immediate return of the press cards seized from the security forces. Policies to intimidate journalists should be abandoned, and journalism should be practiced under the criteria of freedom of the press.
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