A Saudi Arabian woman studying at the University of Leeds in England has been sentenced to 34 years in prison for using Twitter and retweeting dissident tweets.
Salma al-Shehab, 34, a doctoral student, was charged with “public disorder” and “obstruction of civil and national security.” Salma was originally sentenced to three years in prison, but the sentence was extended to 34 years, including a 34-year travel ban.
The woman returned to Saudi Arabia for a holiday and is awaiting sentencing by the Special Terrorism Tribunal. She is known as a dental hygienist and doctoral student at the University of Leeds. He also teaches at Putri Noor bint Abdulrahman University. Salma is married and has two sons.
Her case got a lot of attention on Twitter as people demanded her release.
University of Leeds student Salma al-Shehab has been sentenced to 34 years in prison for retweeting dissidents on Twitter.
This sentence from the Saudi Dictator’s terrorist court, for criticizing MBS’ reign of terror (driven by blood & oil) IS, ITSELF, terrorism! https://t.co/FGepNQjWmJ
– Rula Jebreal (@rulajebreal)
#Human rights activists noted the freedom of women’s rights activist Salma Al-Shehab, who was sentenced by a Saudi Arabian court to 34 years in prison. This is the longest sibling in FreeSalma history.#الحرية_لسلمي الشهاب #.Kingdom
– Abd Alsalaam (@AbdAlsalaam17) August 15, 2022
this is abhorrent – and Salma al-Shehab is a UK resident, she’s studying a PhD in Leeds, the UK should be speaking up for her, as someone who chose to come here.
The situation arose just days after US President Joe Biden met with Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman. Saudi Arabia’s sovereign wealth fund, the Public Investment Fund (PIF), is reported to control a significant portion of Twitter.
A US court last week, found a former Twitter employee guilty of spying on Saudi Arabian officials. Ahmad Abouammo allegedly sold information about Twitter users for money.
Abouammo is alleged to have provided information to publications critical of the Saudi regime. He left Twitter in 2015. The jury found Abouammo guilty on six counts.
According to reports, Salma al-Shehab may appeal her sentence. Her Twitter account is said to have only 2,597 followers.
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