A Saudi court has sentenced a woman to 45 years in prison for "using the internet to tear apart the social fabric" and expressing her critical views on Twitter, according to a court document obtained on Wednesday. This is the second sentence of this type in a month.
Little is known about Nura al Qahtani, who comes from one of the largest tribes in Saudi Arabia and apparently has no history of activism.
The organization Democracy Now for the Arab World (DAWN), which had access to the court document, said in a statement that a court specializing in terrorism in the Arab kingdom found Nura al Qahtani guilty of "using the internet to tear the social fabric" of the country. and of "violating public order with the use of social networks".
This sentence comes after international outcry following a similar 34-year prison sentence imposed on Salma al-Shehab, a Saudi doctoral student at the University of Leeds in England. It was then the heaviest penalty imposed in the kingdom for peacefully expressing her views, according to human rights organizations.
The judges charged Al Qahtani, arrested on July 4, 2021, with "disturbing the cohesion of society" and "destabilizing the social fabric," according to the charge sheet, citing her activity on social media. They alleged that Al Qahtani "offended public order through the information network." It is not clear what Al Qahtani posted online or where her hearing was held.
“This looks like the start of a new wave of sentences and convictions by new judges who have been placed in the specialized criminal court,” said Abdullah Alaoudh, regional director of DAWN. "It shows how emboldened the Saudi authorities are to punish even the slightest criticism of their citizens," he added.
Several other activists have been arrested in connection with social media posts since last year. Last week, the NGO Gulf Center for Human Rights denounced that the Saudi authorities have also accused Lina al Sharif of terrorism, a doctor who has been detained since May 2021 for expressing her opinions on social networks.
"It's very hard to ignore the fact that we're seeing these punishments because (Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman) has been given greater legitimacy in the international arena," said Allison McManus, research director at the Freedom Initiative, another human rights group with headquartered in washington
US President Joe Biden traveled to the oil-rich kingdom last July to meet with Prince Mohammed bin Salman, whom he said he confronted about his country's human rights policy. Biden entered office vowing to make Saudi Arabia a “rogue” state over the 2018 murder of Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi.
