Salma al-Shehab Freed After Serving Years in Saudi Prison for Tweets

Human rights defenders on Monday welcomed the release of Salma al-Shehab—who was once sentenced to 34 years in prison after she amplified social media posts promoting women's rights—and called on authorities to restore her right to travel so she can return to her doctoral studies at Leeds University in England.

Al-Shehab, a 36-year-old mother of two and women's rights activist, was arrested in 2021 while vacationing in Saudi Arabia and imprisoned for nearly 10 months in solitary confinement before being tried for reposting messages from activists on the social media site then known as Twitter.

"Saudi Arabia's authorities must now ensure she is not subjected to a travel ban or any further punitive measures."

In March 2022, the Specialized Criminal Court (SCC) sentenced al-Shehab to six years behind bars. However, the prosecution appealed and the SCC extended her sentence to 34 years, sparking international condemnation and growing calls for al-Shehab's release. Al-Shehab's sentence was subsequently reduced twice, first to 27 and then to four years following a 2024 retrial. At one point, al-Shehab and seven other imprisoned women went on a hunger strike protest.

"Salma al-Shehab's ordeal in prison is finally over," Amnesty International Middle East researcher Dana Ahmed said in a statement Monday. "For more than four years she has been subjected to one gross injustice after another including at one point being handed an egregious 34-year prison sentence for her social media posts."

"She spent almost 300 days in prolonged solitary confinement, was denied legal representation, and was then repeatedly convicted on terrorism charges and handed a decadeslong sentence," Ahmed added. "All just because she tweeted in support of women's rights and retweeted Saudi women's rights activists. Saudi Arabia's authorities must now ensure she is not subjected to a travel ban or any further punitive measures."

While there have been improvements during the de facto rule of Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman—women can now drive, get their own passports, travel abroad, and live independently without the permission of a male guardian, to name but a few developments—critics contend that the kingdom remains one of the world's most repressed societies, especially for women and religious minorities. Al-Shehab is Shia Muslim, a group that has long faced severe discrimination in the Sunni-majority kingdom.

Human rights advocates called on Saudi authorities to free other women imprisoned for their online activism.

"While today is a day to celebrate Salma's release, it's also an opportunity to reflect on the many others serving similarly lengthy sentences in Saudi Arabia for their activities online," said Ahmed. "This includes other women such as such as Manahel al-Otaibi, and Noura al-Qahtani, jailed for speaking out for women's rights, and Abdulrahman al-Sadhan, jailed for 20 years for satirical tweets."

"We urge the Saudi authorities to immediately release them and end their relentless crackdown on the right to freedom of expression once and for all," Ahmed added.