Saudi PhD student freed after being jailed over posts, activists say

A Saudi doctoral student at the University of Leeds, who was sentenced for critical remarks made on social media, has been released from prison, according to activists. This follows the shortening of her prison sentence.

Salma al-Shehab, a 36-year-old mother of two, was arrested in 2021 while on vacation in the Gulf kingdom. She was later sentenced by a terrorism court to six years in prison for allegedly "disrupting public order" and "undermining the social structure" through posts calling for reforms and the release of activists.

The initial sentence was increased to 34 years before being reduced after two appeals—first to 27 years, then to 4 years, with an additional 4-year suspended sentence. Saudi authorities have not yet responded to the matter. ALQST, a UK-based Saudi human rights organization, first reported Shehab's release, stating that she had been "arbitrarily detained for four years for her peaceful activism." The organization added, "She must now be granted full freedom, including the right to travel to Leeds to complete her studies."

Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, the de facto ruler of Saudi Arabia, has overseen a broad crackdown on dissent over the past eight years, with peaceful critics on social media handed lengthy prison sentences, even death sentences, after trials in terrorism courts that human rights organizations have called unjust. Shehab, a dental hygienist and medical educationist, was in the final year of her PhD at the University of Leeds School of Medicine. Five years ago, before travelling to the Saudi kingdom, she posted or re-tweeted multiple messages calling for reform and the release of prominent activists, clerics and other intellectuals.

One post praised a group of prominent women's rights activists, calling them "prisoners of conscience." These women's rights activists were detained prior to the lifting of the ban on women driving in 2018 and were later convicted of harming national security. Dana Ahmed, Amnesty International's Middle East researcher, stated that Shehab was convicted of terrorism offenses "simply for supporting women's rights on Twitter and retweeting Saudi women's rights activists."

"While today is a day to celebrate Salma's release, it is also an opportunity to reflect on the many others in Saudi Arabia who face similar lengthy sentences for their online activity," she added. "This includes other women, such as Manahel al-Otaibi and Noura al-Qahtani, who are imprisoned for publicly speaking out for women's rights, and Abdulrahman al-Sadhan, who was sentenced to 20 years in prison for satirical tweets." The BBC has contacted the Saudi foreign ministry and the University of Leeds for comment.