Labor MP in the British House of Commons (Parliament), Hilary Benn, called on his country’s government to intervene with Saudi Arabia to release activist Salma Al-Shehab, who has the longest prison sentence against a peaceful activist in Saudi history, describing what happened to her as “horrific and brutal.”
On August 9, a Saudi appeals court sentenced Salma Al-Shehab to 34 years in prison, on charges of “subsidizing” dissidents seeking to “destabilize the state” for tweets and retweets, under the Anti-Terrorism Crimes and Financing Law. According to her claim.
In a letter to British Foreign Secretary Liz Truss, Hilary Benn said the UK had a “duty” to press for the release of Al-Shehab, a Saudi national who was living in Britain and studying at Leeds University and detained after returning to visit her family last year.
The letter, which was published by the British newspaper “The Guardian”, added: “The United Kingdom must intervene,” and called on her to “submit protests to the Saudi authorities, so that they can release Salma to return to her family and study.”
The British MP pointed out that the case “completely contradicts Saudi Arabia’s claim to improve human rights,” and said: “It seems that all it did was use its Twitter account to support women’s rights and greater freedom, and call for the release of activists imprisoned in the kingdom.”
He criticized Saudi Arabia’s talk of reforms, while a woman is imprisoned for expressing her views on Twitter.
Hilary Benn concluded his letter by saying, “I believe it is our duty as citizens and states to speak out wherever human rights are being violated or denied in this way.”
It is noteworthy that the verdict against “Salma” was issued by a court specialized in terrorism cases, weeks after US President Joe Biden’s visit to Saudi Arabia, which human rights activists have warned may encourage the kingdom to escalate its repressive campaign against dissidents and other pro-activists. for democracy.
And “Salma Al-Shehab”, a doctoral student at the University of Leeds in Britain, and the mother of two children from the Shiite minority in the Kingdom, specifically from Al-Ahsa.
She was arrested on January 15, 2021, while on vacation in the Kingdom, and was subjected to prolonged investigation sessions for about 285 days, before being referred to the Specialized Criminal Court.
Selma was initially sentenced to six years in prison late last year, which was increased to 34 years after Salma appealed.
Despite releasing human rights defenders arrested years ago, the Saudi authorities are still arresting more women activists on Twitter.