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Loujain al-Hathloul, Saudi women's rights activist, sentenced to nearly 6 years inSHARE
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Loujain al-Hathloul, Saudi women's rights

activist, sentenced to nearly 6 years in
prison
Loujain al-Hathloul rose to prominence for openly calling for women’s right to drive in the
deeply conservative kingdom.

A projection on the Louvre Museum in Paris depicting jailed Saudi rights activists, including Loujain Al-Hathloul in November.
Thomas Coex / AFP - Getty Images

Dec. 28, 2020, 2:25 PM CET

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By Saphora Smith

One of Saudi Arabia’s most prominent women’s rights activists was

sentenced to five years and eight months in prison Monday despite
international pressure for her to be released, according to a member
of her family.

Loujain al-Hathloul's sentence had been suspended for two years

and ten months, her sister Lina al-Hathloul said on Twitter. When TRENDING GADGETS
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added to the time she has already served in detention since her
arrest in May 2018, she may be released in two months, according to
her sister.

Lina Al-Hathloul tweeted that her sister was also subject to a five-
year travel ban and that the public prosecutor and Al-Hathloul could
both still appeal. NBC News could not independently verify all the
details of Al-Hathloul's sentencing. FORGE OF EMPIRES - FREE ONLINE GAME
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Hathloul’s sentence was for five years and eight months, two years
and 10 months of which had been suspended, but could not
immediately confirm if the sentence would be backdated to May
2018.

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Loujain Al-Hathloul, 31, rose to prominence for openly calling for

women to be given the right to drive and for an end to Saudi Arabia's
restrictive male guardianship system that had long limited women’s
freedom of movement. She was arrested along with several other
female activists in May 2018, just weeks before the kingdom ended a
decades-long ban on women driving.

Rights groups including Amnesty International and Human Rights

Watch said that some of the women detained, including Al-Hathloul,
reported having faced abuses while imprisoned, including electric
shocks, whippings and sexual assault. Saudi Arabia has denied the
allegations.

Human Rights Watch said prosecutors charged Al-Hathloul in 2019

with offenses related to her human rights advocacy, before later
amending her charge sheet and transferring her case in late
November to the country's notorious Specialized Criminal Court,
which specializes in handling terrorism cases.

Other dissidents, including cleric Salman al-Awda, who called on the

country's rulers to be more responsive to the population's desires for
reform, have also stood trial in the kingdom's anti-terror court.

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Al-Hathloul amended charges remain entirely related to her human

rights work and include sharing information on Saudi women’s
rights with journalists based in the country, Saudi activists abroad,
international bodies and human rights organizations, according to
Human Rights Watch.

Convicting Al-Hathloul between Christmas and New Year shows

Saudi Arabia wants to minimize the attention her conviction gets,
because they are embarrassed over how they treated her and should
be, said Adam Coogle, a deputy director with the Middle East and
North Africa division at Human Rights Watch.

“This was always a total charade and travesty of justice,” he tweeted.

Saudi Arabia's persecution of imprisoned women's

rights activist Loujain al-Hathloul
"
NOV. 25, 2020 / 04:51

Since Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman assumed power in 2017

he has presented himself as a reformer eager to transform the
deeply conservative society. But he has also presided over sweeping
crackdowns on dissent, arresting intellectuals, clerics, women’s
rights activists and members of the royal family.

Saudi Arabia has enjoyed cozy relations with President Donald

Trump's administration but it is expected to have a frostier
relationship with President-elect Joe Biden’s incoming team.

During his term in office, Trump has praised a Saudi crackdown on

hundreds of top businessmen, officials and members of the royal
family at the Ritz-Carlton hotel in Riyadh in November 2017. He also
stood by Saudi Arabia, even as the CIA concluded that the powerful
crown prince ordered the brutal killing of Saudi journalist Jamal
Khashoggi, a Washington Post columnist, in Istanbul in October
2018.

Biden, on the other hand, has pledged to "reassess" the U.S.

relationship with the oil-rich kingdom, has described Saudi Arabia as
a "pariah" and said he believes Khashoggi was murdered on the
orders of the crown prince.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

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Saphora Smith !

Saphora Smith is a London-based reporter for NBC News Digital.

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