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Hathloul appeared in a Saudi court on Wednesday, as his trial was scheduled to begin after 900 days in pre-trial detention.
Instead, the court referred the case to the Specialized Criminal Court for terrorism and national security cases, according to a statement from his family and supporters sent to CNN.
“We remain deeply concerned about the continued detention of at least five women’s rights activists in Saudi Arabia. We regret that the cases of Loujain Al-Hathloul and Samar Badawi have been referred to the Special Criminal Court for terrorism and national security cases.” he added. Human rights ambassadors from the United Kingdom, the Netherlands, Germany, Sweden, Estonia, Luxembourg and Finland said in a statement.
Hathloul, 31, was jailed in May 2018 during a raid that targeted prominent opponents of the kingdom’s old law prohibiting women from driving. The crackdown occurred just weeks before the ban was lifted, calling into question a reform agenda put forward by Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman.
The court to which he appeared on Wednesday said it would investigate allegations of torture at Hathloul prison, according to the family statement. Saudi authorities have repeatedly denied allegations of torture and sexual abuse in their prisons. A new test date has not been announced yet.
“Peaceful activism and the defense of women’s rights is not a crime. Human rights defenders can be a strong partner for governments in addressing societal concerns,” said the ambassadors.
“We join the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, the Special Rapporteurs and the Treaty Bodies in reiterating our call for the release of all political detainees, including women’s rights activists.”
CNN has reached out to the Saudi government for a response.
In an interview with CNN’s Nic Robertson earlier this month, Saudi Arabia’s Minister of State for Foreign Affairs Adel Jubeir said that Hathloul’s case “was up to the courts” and that “she is being tried on matters related to national security “.
An Amnesty International representative for the Middle East, Lynn Maalouf, said that the Specialized Criminal Court was “an institution used to silence dissent and known for handing down long prison terms after seriously flawed trials.”
On a six-page charge sheet for Hathloul’s case, seen by CNN, a section titled “crimes committed” included activism against the kingdom’s restrictive male guardianship laws, along with contacts with foreign journalists and diplomats.
The chairman of the US House of Representatives Intelligence Committee, Adam Schiff, called on Saturday for Hathloul’s immediate release, saying on Twitter that she had “endured torture and abuse for more than 2 years while in detention.”
“Activism on behalf of (women’s) rights is not a crime. He is also concerned about allegations of abuse against them and lack of transparency / access to trials,” the office’s press office wrote on Twitter. .
The statement from Hathloul’s family and supporters said that he had started a second hunger strike on October 26 to protest the conditions of his prison and because he was denied communication with his relatives.
The statement says that she was forced to stop her strike after two weeks, as the authorities woke her several times during the night, leaving her feeling exhausted.
The statement said that he looked “weak in court, that his body was shaking uncontrollably, and that his voice was weak and shaky.”
Her sister, Lina al-Hathloul, said she and her family had received no updates on Hathloul since she began her hunger strike until Tuesday, the day before she was to appear in court.
“And during this time, the Saudi government, instead of answering our repeated questions about Loujain’s health, blocked our requests and denied us access to Loujain,” he said in the statement.
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