Salma al-Shehab: Amnesty International denounces 'outrageous' 34-year sentence given to Leeds university student over tweets

A court in Saudi Arabia sentenced the University of Leeds doctoral student for spreading "rumours" and retweeting dissidents, according to court documents.

Activists and lawyers consider the sentence against the mum of two young children as shocking even by Saudi standards of justice, and the decision has drawn growing global condemnation.

The university said earlier this week that it was “concerned” by the latest development in her case and was seeking advice on whether there was anything it could do to support her.

A postgraduate researcher, Ms al-Shehab was in the final year of her PhD studies in the School of Medicine when she was detained by Saudi Arabia’s General Directorate of Investigations.

It happened during a family holiday in January 2021 in the days before she planned to return to the UK, according to the Freedom Initiative, a Washington-based human rights group.

Ms al-Shehab told judges she had been jailed for more than 285 days before her case was even referred to court, legal documents obtained by The Associated Press show.

Leading human rights watchdog Amnesty International slammed Ms al-Shehab's trial as "grossly unfair", saying her sentence was "cruel and unlawful".

It said the prosecution in her appeal case had cited articles from the country’s counter-terrorism law and the heavy sentence marks an alarming escalation in Saudi Arabia’s use of this legislation to criminalise and unduly restrict the right to freedom of expression.

The judge in the appeals hearing held earlier this month increased an earlier six-year sentence - handed down against Ms al-Shehab last year - while also imposing a 34-year travel ban to be applied from the date of her release.

During the appeal, Ms al-Shehab said the harsh judgment was tantamount to the "destruction of me, my family, my future, and the future of my children". She has two young boys, aged four and six.

She told judges she had no idea that simply retweeting posts "out of curiosity and to observe others' viewpoints", from a personal account with no more than 2,000 followers, constituted terrorism.

Diana Semaan, Amnesty International’s acting Middle East and North Africa deputy director, said: “It is outrageous that Salma al-Shehab - a PhD student and mother of two from Saudi Arabia’s Shi’a minority - has been handed down such a cruel and unlawful punishment simply for using Twitter and retweeting activists who support women’s rights.

“Salma al-Shehab should never have been convicted in the first place, but to have her sentence increased from six to 34 years following an unfair trial shows that the authorities intend to use her to set an example amid their unrelenting crackdown on free speech.

“She must be immediately and unconditionally released. The Saudi authorities must allow her to reunite with her family and continue her studies in the UK.”

She added that the authorities there must also stop equating free speech with terrorism.

Amnesty said it has learned that several other women’s rights activists have been detained in relation to their comments on Twitter since Ms al-Shehab’s detention.

The Saudi government in Riyadh, as well as its embassies in Washington and London, is yet to issue a statement.