Salma al-Shehab, a Saudi PhD student at Leeds University, has been released after serving nearly two years in Saudi detention following a controversial 34-year sentence for tweets advocating for women’s rights. Her arrest in January 2021 occurred just days before her planned return to the UK. Saudi authorities charged al-Shehab with undermining public order and destabilizing the social fabric through her posts, which included retweeting dissident voices and promoting women’s rights in the kingdom.
Initially sentenced to 34 years in prison in August 2022, al-Shehab’s sentence was later reduced to 27 years in January 2023. In September 2024, her sentence was dramatically cut to just four years, with an additional four years suspended. While her release was announced by the Saudi rights group ALQST, Saudi authorities have yet to officially comment on the matter.
Al-Shehab, a women’s rights activist and dental hygienist, has been vocal about human rights abuses in Saudi Arabia, using social media to call for the release of imprisoned activists and to criticize the kingdom’s policies. In 2023, she joined a hunger strike with other women prisoners to demand their freedom and protest against unfair trials and harsh detention conditions.
Her case garnered international attention, with 400 academics from UK universities urging the UK government to intervene on her behalf. Additionally, the UN Working Group on Arbitrary Detention condemned her imprisonment as arbitrary and called for her release and compensation.
While al-Shehab’s release marks a significant victory, rights groups emphasize that her full freedom should include the right to travel to complete her studies. The case highlights ongoing concerns over freedom of expression and the treatment of activists in Saudi Arabia.
