DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — One of Saudi Arabia’s most prominent political activists was released from prison Wednesday, her family said, after serving nearly three years on charges that sparked an international uproar over the kingdom’s human rights record.
Loujain al-Hathloul, who pushed to end a ban on women driving in Saudi Arabia, was arrested in 2018 and sentenced to almost six years in prison last December under a broad counterterrorism law. Held for 1001 days, with time in pre-trial detention and solitary confinement, she was accused of crimes such as agitating for change and pursuing a foreign agenda — charges that rights groups describe as politically motivated.
“Loujain is at home!" her sister Lina al-Hathloul declared on Twitter alongside a screenshot showing a flushed Loujain beaming on a family video call.
There was no immediate comment from Saudi authorities on her release.
Her release this year was widely expected as the judge suspended two years and 10 months of her sentence and gave her credit for time already served, putting her release date sometime in March.
The release Wednesday, earlier than anticipated, comes as Saudi Arabia faces new scrutiny from the United States, where President Joe Biden has vowed to reassess the U.S.-Saudi partnership and stand up for human rights and democratic principles.
Biden labeled Saudi Arabia a “pariah” on the campaign trial and promised to reverse former President Donald Trump’s policy of giving the country “a blank check to pursue a disastrous set of policies,” including the targeting of female activists.
The harsh crackdown against women who had pressed for the right to drive before the kingdom lifted the ban in mid-2018 came to symbolize the dual strategy of Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman. The young, ambitious prince has sought to portray himself as a liberalizing reformer while also silencing and detaining activists who long had pushed for change.
Prince Mohammed cultivated close relations with the Trump administration, which members of Congress say largely shielded the kingdom from censure over its human rights record and instead sought to prioritize lucrative weapons deals.
The crackdown on perceived critics of the Saudi government has intensified under Prince Mohammed and attracted growing international ire since the killing of Saudi critic Jamal Khashoggi inside the Saudi Consulate in Istanbul in late 2018.
Although released, al-Hathloul will remain free under strict conditions, her family has said, including a five-year travel ban and three years of probation.
The 31-year-old Saudi activist rocketed to prominence in Saudi Arabia for her outspokenness on human rights issues, even from behind bars. She launched hunger strikes to protest her imprisonment and joined other female activists in telling Saudi judges that she was tortured and sexually assaulted by masked men during interrogations. The women say they were caned, electrocuted and waterboarded. Some say they were forcibly groped and threatened with rape.
Al-Hathloul's family said an appeals court Tuesday rejected the claims of torture, citing a lack of evidence. While some activists and their families have been pressured into silence, al-Hathloul’s siblings, who reside in the U.S. and Europe, launched high-profile campaigns calling for her release.
Al-Hathloul’s release follows that of two dual Saudi-U.S. citizens who had been detained since 2019: Badr al-Ibrahim, a writer and physician, and Salah al-Haidar, the son of a prominent women’s rights activist. Following intense pressure from members of Congress, they were both set free, the U.S. Senate Foreign Relations Committee announced last Friday. Al-Haidar, who has a family home in Vienna, Virginia, had faced up to 33 years in prison for alleged Twitter posts criticizing the Saudi government.
