Saudi authorities free doctoral student initially sentenced to 34 years for tweets, activists say

In this frame grab from Saudi state television footage, doctoral student and women's rights advocate Salma al-Shehab speaks to a journalist at the Riyadh International Book Fair in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, in March 2014. (Saudi state television via AP, File) (Saudi state television/AP)

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates — A Saudi doctoral student at Leeds University in Britain has been freed after seeing her 34-year sentence in Saudi Arabia for her activity on Twitter drastically reduced, a rights group said Monday

Salma al-Shehab, a mother of two, had been sentenced to 34 years in prison back in 2022 over her tweets, part of a wider crackdown on dissent in the kingdom as Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman has taken over as its de facto ruler.

A London-based Saudi rights group, ALQST, announced her release. In January, ALQST and other groups said al-Shehab had seen her sentence reduced to four years in prison, with an additional four years suspended.

“Her full freedom must now be granted, including the right to travel to complete her studies,” the group said.

Amnesty International also reported al-Shehab’s release.

“She spent almost 300 days in prolonged solitary confinement, was denied legal representation, and was then repeatedly convicted on terrorism charges and handed a decadeslong sentence,” said Dana Ahmed, a Mideast researcher at Amnesty.

“All just because she tweeted in support of women’s rights and retweeted Saudi women’s rights activists.”

Saudi Arabia did not acknowledge her release. Saudi officials did not respond to a request for comment from The Associated Press.

Al-Shehab was detained during a family vacation on Jan. 15, 2021, just days before she planned to return to the United Kingdom. She is a member of Saudi Arabia’s Shiite Muslim minority, which has long complained of systematic discrimination in the Sunni-ruled kingdom.

Judges accused al-Shehab of “disturbing public order” and “destabilizing the social fabric” -- claims stemming solely from her social media activity on Twitter, now known as X, according to an official charge sheet. They alleged al-Shehab followed and retweeted dissident accounts on Twitter and “transmitted false rumors.”

Prince Mohammed’s rise has seen Saudi Arabia lift the driving ban on women in 2018, part of a raft of social reforms that have transformed daily life in the country.

However, he also has presided over a heavy crackdown on dissent while also targeting others in the kingdom with power, influence and wealth. U.S. intelligence found that he likely approved the 2018 killing of prominent Saudi dissident and Washington Post columnist Jamal Khashoggi, allegations the crown prince denies.

Other women have been caught in the crackdown, including Nourah bint Saeed al-Qahtani, who was sentenced to 45 years for her use of social media.

Both al-Qahtani and al-Shehab’s trials were before a special court originally established to try terror suspects but which has broadened its mandate in recent years amid the crackdown. The United Nations' Working Group on Arbitrary Detention considered both women to be detained arbitrarily.

By Jon Gambrell