Saudi women’s rights activist Manahel al-Otaibi was arrested for wearing “indecent” clothes and was sentenced to 11 years in prison for “terrorist” charges. Image source: Manahel Alotibi, via Instagram.
Saudi women’s rights activist Manahel al-Otaibi was sentenced to 11 years in prison for “terrorist offences” after a secret hearing by the Specialized Criminal Court.
Amnesty International and ALQST have called for her immediate and unconditional release.
The rights groups claim al-Otaibi has faced “physical and psychological abuse” while in prison.
Al-Otaibi was “forcibly disappeared” on 5 November 2023 and was unable to contact her family until 14 April, five months later.
Reports indicate she had held been in solitary confinement and was left with a broken leg after being physically assaulted.
Al-Otaibi was initially arrested in the capital Riyadh on 16 November 2022.
She was charged for her support of women’s rights on social media, her “indecent clothes”, and for “going to the shops without wearing an abaya” (a traditional dress).
On 9 January, Manahel al-Otaibi was convicted of “terrorist offenses” under articles 43 and 44 of Saudi Arabia’s Counter-Terrorism Law.
Articles 43 and 44 criminalise the electronic publication of information used to make explosives “or any other devices used in terrorist crime” and publishing statements by any means “for committing a terrorist crime”.
One of the charges against al-Otaibi included the use of a hashtag translating as “society is ready” to call for the end of male guardianship laws.
Saudi officials only confirmed the decision weeks later in a response to the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR).
The response claims al-Otaibi’s “terrorist” convictions have “no bearing on her exercise of freedom of opinion and expression or her social media posts”.
Her family have not been given access to court documents nor any evidence presented against her.
Amnesty International campaigner Bissan Fakih described al-Otaibi’s sentence as “an appalling and cruel injustice”.
“Since the moment she was arrested, Saudi Arabia’s authorities have subjected her to a relentless catalogue of abuses, from unlawful detention… to enforced disappearance for over five months while she was being secretly interrogated, tried and sentenced,” said Fakih.
Saudi officials have denied the claims of abuse against al-Otaibi.
