Saudi Woman Imprisoned for 11 Years Due to Social Media Posts, According to Amnesty International

Manahel Al-Otaibi was sentenced in January and details of her case emerged in Saudi Arabia’s formal reply to a request from the United Nations human rights office, London-based Amnesty said in a statement on Tuesday. Saudi Arabia’s international media office did not respond to Reuters’ questions about the information given by Amnesty. Saudi Arabia, in its formal reply to the U.N. rights office, denied that Al-Otaibi was sentenced for social media posts. It said she was “convicted of terrorist offences that have no bearing on her exercise of freedom of opinion and expression or her social media posts”.

The Saudi response, seen by Reuters, did not provide further details. Saudi Arabia’s counter-terrorism law, under which Al-Otaibi was convicted, has been criticized by the United Nations as an overly broad tool to stifle dissent. The U.N. human rights office did not immediately respond to a Reuters request for comment or to confirm the details of this case. Amnesty said Al-Otaibi’s sister, Fawzia, faced similar charges but fled Saudi Arabia after being summoned for questioning in 2022.

The de facto Saudi ruler, Crown Prince Mohammed Bin Salman, came to power in 2017 promising sweeping social and economic reforms, and he eased some curbs in male guardianship laws. Saudi women have since been able to drive cars, get a passport and travel on their own, register births and deaths, and divorce. The laws, however, still make it more difficult for women to obtain a divorce than a man. The kingdom still faces scrutiny over its human rights record including a 2022 personal status law that codified many aspects of male guardianship, including male custody over children and permission for a woman to marry.

Some provisions could facilitate domestic abuse, according to Amnesty. *(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed. )*