Saudi human rights activist Loujain al-Hathloul was sentenced on Monday, December 28, to five years and eight months in prison by a court specializing in anti-terrorism cases, Saudi media reported, including two years and ten months with stay.
She was found guilty of "various activities prohibited by the anti-terrorism law," said online media Sabq, a representative of whom attended the hearing.
The activist has been in pre-trial detention for more than two years, a period taken into account in the sentence handed down, Saudi media said citing the court ruling.
But the date of his release from detention has not been specified.
An appeal of the decision can be lodged within 30 days.
Loujain al-Hathloul was arrested along with other activists in May 2018 shortly before the lifting of the driving ban on Saudi women, a reform for which the women were campaigning.
No hard evidence
According to Saudi Foreign Minister Faisal ben Farhan Al-Saoud, Loujain al-Hathloul, 31, is accused of having been in contact with states "hostile" to the kingdom and of having transmitted confidential information.
But his family say the Saudi government has not provided any tangible evidence to support the charges.
Loujain al-Hathloul's family announced at the end of November that his case had been transferred by a judge at the Riyadh criminal court to a court responsible for terrorism cases.
This specialized criminal court was created in 2008 to try terrorism cases, but it has since been widely used to try political prisoners, according to human rights organizations.
Saudi Arabia is widely criticized in the West for its human rights record.
The activist went on a hunger strike in prison on October 26 before interrupting it two weeks later, according to her family and Amnesty International.
Sexual harassment
Loujain al-Hathloul had, among other things, appeared on December 11, two days after the same court was sentenced to six years in prison of a prominent Saudi-American doctor, Walid Fitaihi.
He was notably accused of having obtained American nationality without authorization and of sympathy towards an unidentified terrorist organization, a source close to his family told AFP.
"Loujain's morale is good but his physical condition remains low," his sister Alia al-Hathloul said at the time.
A graduate of the Canadian University of British Columbia (UBC), this "fierce" activist for the cause of Saudi women, has carried out only peaceful actions in the ultra-conservative kingdom.
She has long campaigned for the right of Saudi women to drive and for the end of the guardianship which puts women at the total mercy of men.
The pro-government media have described these activists as "traitors", for having maintained contacts with diplomats and foreign NGOs.
Her family claim that she was the victim of sexual harassment and torture in detention.
The activist said, according to her family, that the former royal advisor, Saud al-Qahtani, threatened to rape and kill her, which the authorities vigorously deny.
This is not the first time that this Saudi woman, familiar with social networks and from Al-Qassim, a conservative region in central Saudi Arabia, has found herself behind bars.
She was arrested at the end of 2014 and taken into custody for attempting to enter Saudi Arabia driving a car from the United Arab Emirates.
She was released 73 days later, following an international campaign.
With AFP
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