Kingdom of Saudi Arabia has released two women’s rights activists who were detained nearly three years ago on the suspicion of harming Saudi interests. The women are released after serving their designated time in prison.
The women rights activists, Samar Badawi and Nassima al-Sadah were detained in July 2018 when sweeping crackdown was carried out by Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman. The crackdown targeted the two female activists advocating for greater freedom along with more than a dozen other activists.
Although their arrest was made under the suspicion of sabotaging KSA’s interests, it was criticized by several human rights advocacy groups as the move drew international attention.
London-based Saudi rights group ALQST said the two women, Samar Badawi and Nassima al-Sada, were released sometime late Saturday or early Sunday. Their release was also confirmed by Human Rights Watch.
Samar Badawi who belongs to Jeddah, first caught the attention of the media when she petitioned Saudi courts to remove her father as her legal guardian. She claimed that he was barring her from marrying potential suitors.
U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and First lady Michelle Obama congratulate Samar Badawi of Saudi Arabia during the State Department’s 2012 International Women of Courage Award winners ceremony in Washington on March 8, 2012.
Over the years, she rose to prominence as a well-known human rights activist. She also spoke out in defence of her brother Raif Badawi, who was publicly flogged in 2015 under King Abdullah.
Samar Badawi’s brother Raif is still serving 10 years of punishment in prison over internet posts critical of the ultraconservative religious establishment. Her step-father Waleed Abul-Khair, a human rights lawyer is also serving 15 years imprisonment.
Nassima al-Sadah comes from the Eastern Province of KSA, an area heavily populated by the kingdom’s minority Shiite Muslims. She is a prominent women’s rights activist and outspoken in defence of greater rights for Shiites.
Nassima al-Sadah.
Amnesty International said she had been held in solitary confinement for a year and was not allowed to see her children or lawyer for months at a time.
It is unclear what Badawi and Al-Sadah were found guilty of neither has the Saudi government commented on the individual cases of the women nor publicized their charges. It is suspected that al-Sada was charged under a cybercrime law and was found guilty of undermining public order by communicating with foreign journalists and organizations.
Badawi and al-Sada had been sentenced to five years imprisonment, two of which were suspended. All the women’s rights activists detained in 2018 have now been released from prison. However, the status of one woman remains unclear.
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