Saturday 20 August 2022
Islamabad (Urdu Point. DW Urdu. August 20, 2022) Earlier this week, the Special Criminal Court (SCC) of Riyadh sentenced 34-year-old Salma Al-Shehab to 34 years in prison. Not only this, but they have also been banned from traveling for 34 years. This punishment is being considered harsh even by 'Saudi standards'.
The PhD student, who was enrolled at the University of Leeds in the UK, was arrested in December 2020 when she returned for a visit to her home country.
Now he has been declared guilty by a court.According to the court verdict, "The accused has been found guilty of aiding and abetting those who, through their Twitter accounts, seek to create public unrest while destabilizing civil and national security."
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The verdict comes as no less than a shock to the mother of two as her defense lawyer had appealed for a sentence of less than six years for causing public unrest, destabilizing civil and national security" during the trial. had done
Salma Al Shahab was neither very prominent in her criticism nor did she have a huge fan following. However, during her two-year stay abroad, she shared and liked social media posts supporting the release of imprisoned human rights activist Lajain al-Hathloul and calls for gender equality in Saudi Arabia.
According to the Washington Post, a Saudi Twitter account named 'Faisal OTB' sent Salma Al-Shehab the first message that he was filing a complaint with Saudi security officials regarding the account's activities.
"The reality is that Salma al-Shahab was blacklisted by the Saudi state's surveillance apparatus," said Sebastian Sanz, an expert at Germany-based Corpo think tank, speaking to DW. It also shows that Saudi Arabia has established a digital and modern surveillance system like its neighbor UAE.
They further say that this latest decision of the country against Al-Shahab, which belongs to the Saudi Shia minority, may also be a warning to the old enemy of the Riyadh regime, Iran.
Saudi Arabia's growing confidence
The gas shortage following Russia's invasion of Ukraine has boosted the Saudi kingdom's self-esteem as the world's main fuel supplier to a new level. According to critics, after the murder of Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi, Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman came to a defensive position, but due to the growing importance of Saudi Arabia in the global fuel market, the Saudi prince is traveling again, and European state leaders have also. He has started visiting this country.
Recently, US President Joe Biden, who is considered a critic of the Saudi prince, also visited Riyadh himself and requested an increase in oil production. According to analysts, this is the reason why Western countries are no longer in a position to increase pressure on the Riyadh government regarding human rights violations.
Meanwhile, Salma Al-Shehab's lawyer has 30 days to appeal the sentence, while Salma's supporters are calling for her release on Twitter under the hashtag #freeSalmaAlShehab.
According to the human rights organization The Freedom Initiative, his lawyer has already filed a request for clemency against the 34-year sentence, and higher court judges have the legal power to review the sentence.The Saudi crown prince has released the design of his 'city of dreams'
Jennifer Hollis
