She spent 1,001 nights in jail, or just under three years, and now the famous human rights activist from Saudi Arabia is on parole. “Loujain is home,” her sister Lina al-Hathloul wrote on Twitter. She also posted a screenshot of a video conversation with her sister in which she is seen smiling.
Loujain is at home !!!
تم الافراج عن لجين pic.twitter.com/fqug9VK6Mj– Lina Alhathloul لينا الهذلول (@LinaAlhathloul) February 10, 2021
Her other sister, Alia al-Hathloul, had this to say about her sister’s release during an online press conference: “It was a very special moment when I saw her, a moment I will never forget. She is such a strong woman. That is the woman I know. We are happy that he can now sleep in a warm bed. “
The human rights activist says one of the first things she wants to do is eat ice cream and her sister Alia, who lives in Belgium, said she had gone to the supermarket to buy ice cream to celebrate with her sister.
For years, Loujain al-Hathloul had defied the ban on driving for women and other legal restrictions in Saudi Arabia. The restrictions were imposed under the country’s guardianship system, which required women to have male guardians at all times. She was arrested and jailed in May 2018.
Saudi Arabia, a few weeks later, changed the law prohibiting women from driving, and observers believe Crown Prince Mohammad bin Salman, a self-proclaimed reformer, did not want the role of women activists to appear to have forced the change. In the law.
In December 2020, a judge sentenced her to five years and eight months in prison after finding her guilty of violating the country’s anti-terrorism law. She was accused of violating national security and of maintaining contacts with foreign governments in an attempt to change the country’s political system. At the time of the verdict, he had already spent more than two years in custody while awaiting trial.
The fight is not over
Loujain al-Hathloul’s family hoped that he would be released from prison on parole in the coming months. With 1,001 days in jail behind her, her sister Lina still doesn’t think the matter is over. “Loujain is home, but he is not free,” he said.
You may be at home, but you are still not allowed to leave the country for five years. If you do, you are violating your probation. His parents have also had trouble leaving the country in recent years. Officials never told them why.
Saudi Arabia’s counterterrorism tribunal, which was established in 2008, has its own definition of what it considers terrorism, according to Middle East expert Guido Steinberg of the German Institute for International and Security Affairs (SWP). “The government of Saudi Arabia defines what exactly is terrorism,” he said. “What we have here is a political trial launched by the political leadership. This court was established to accomplish such things. “
According to Loujain’s supporters, she can be sent back to jail at any time during the next three years if she is deemed to have violated her probation in any way. This is why her sister Lina thinks she won’t be on social media anytime soon. Your Tweets are now considered illegal and any activity in this regard would be considered a cyber crime.
The 31-year-old activist’s release from prison was internationally acclaimed. Amnesty International called his release a long time ago and leaders around the world, including French President Emmanuel Macron and US President Joe Biden, echoed that sentiment.
Did the United States government play a role in his release?
Biden said in the election campaign in 2020 that if he were elected president, human rights violations in Saudi Arabia would be dealt with in a much stricter way than during the Trump administration. According to SWP’s Guido Steinberg, it is quite possible that Trump’s change of power to Biden played a “very important role” in his release.
The timing of the court decision, three weeks after Biden took office, is no mere coincidence, many say. Loujain’s sister Alia also believes pressure from Washington helped her sister get out of jail earlier.
Former US President Donald Trump maintained warm relations with the crown prince of Saudi Arabia and saw him as an ally in the region against Iran. Despite numerous human rights violations and the murder of Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi, he never deviated from his pro-Saudi stance. Numerous human rights activists and critics of the Saudi government remain in jail today, including activists Nassima al-Saddah, Maya al-Zahrani, and Samar Badawi, the sister of prominent blogger Raif Badawi. And Steinberg doesn’t expect the situation to improve anytime soon. “The tolerance that the Saudi government has had with opposition figures, even moderate opposition figures, has become less and less in recent years.”
Loujain al-Hathloul wants justice to be done
Lina al-Hathloul is not exactly optimistic when it comes to improvements in human rights in her country. “Loujain’s release from prison is, of course, good for her and good for us, her family. But that does not change anything regarding the systemic problems facing the country. Women will not get more rights just because she has been released from prison. As long as he is prevented from being an activist, nothing will change, ”he said.
But don’t expect Loujain al-Hathloul to stop fighting anytime soon. She wants justice because she was tortured, her sister Alia said. “She can never forget what happened to her.”
According to her family and Amnesty International, she was tortured with electric shocks and also beaten. The Saudi government, however, denies these claims. She has tried to prove in court that she was tortured, but so far to no avail. According to her sister Lina, the burden of proof falls on Loujain to prove she was mistreated.
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She is a freelance blogger, writer, and speaker, and writes for various entertainment magazines.