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al-Hathloul was found guilty of “various activities contrary to anti-terrorism legislation”, according to the court’s decision, cited by the Asharq Al-Awsat newspaper.
The verdict was greeted with a mixture of relief and resentment among human rights groups that closely followed the case.
On the one hand, Loujain al-Hathloul risked much harsher punishment. When al-Hathloul’s case was transferred to a court specialized in terrorist crimes a few weeks ago, it was speculated that she could be sentenced to 20 years in prison.
In addition, the period of detention will be deducted and 34 months of the actual penalty will be counted as conditional. This means that Loujain al-Hathloul can be released in February next year.
On the other hand A five-year travel ban follows with the sentence, as well as a three-year probationary period. If the authorities believe that Loujain al-Hathloul is guilty of further crimes, they can re-imprison her.
Also, there is widespread agreement outside of Saudi Arabia that the allegations against the 31-year-old literary scholar al-Hathloul about espionage, etc., are unfounded. Mary Lawlor, UN rapporteur on human rights issues, called the ruling “offensive.”
She (Loujain al-Hathloul) has defended human rights. You can never call it terrorism, Lawlor tells the German news channel DW.
The Saudi Arabian courts are very much a tool for the ruling royal house. Therefore, it is not unreasonable to imagine that the country’s true ruler, Crown Prince Mohammad bin Salman, looked to the United States before the verdict against al-Hathloul was confirmed.
The United States is the most important ally of Saudi Arabia. It is clear that current President Joe Biden will not have a stricter view of Saudi human rights abuses than current President Donald Trump does.
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