RIYADH: Saudi authorities released prominent women’s rights activist Loujain al-Hathloul after nearly three years in detention, her family said, in a case that had drawn international condemnation.
Hathloul, 31, was arrested in May 2018 with about a dozen other women activists just weeks before the historic lifting of a decades-long ban on female drivers, a reform they had long campaigned for, triggering a torrent of international criticism.
The release of the activist, who is still under probation and is barred from leaving Saudi Arabia, sparked euphoria among her siblings who had launched a vigorous campaign overseas for her freedom.
“Loujain is at home!!!!!!!” her sister Lina al-Hathloul wrote on Twitter. “At home after 1001 days in prison,” she added, along with a picture of the smiling activist with streaks of grey hair.
US President Joe Biden, who has pledged to intensify scrutiny of Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman’s human rights record, welcomed the decision to release her, saying it was “the right thing to do”.
The US State Department said she should never have been jailed. “Promoting and advocating for women’s rights and other human rights should never be criminalised,” said State Department spokesman Ned Price.
UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres welcomed her release, spokesman Stephane Dujarric said. “But I think it is important that others who are in the same condition as her, who have been jailed for the same reasons as her, also be released and that charges be dropped against them,” he told reporters.
French President Emmanuel Macron, who strongly called for Hathloul’s release last year, welcomed the news, tweeting that he “shared the relief of her family”.
In late December, a Saudi court handed Hathloul a prison term of five years and eight months for terrorism-related crimes, but her family said a partially suspended sentence paved the way for her early release. The women’s rights activist was convicted of inciting regime change and seeking to disrupt public order, in what her family denounced as a “sham” trial.
They also alleged she experienced sexual harassment and torture in detention, claims dismissed by the court. Still, the court has imposed a five-year travel ban on Hathloul, her relatives said. “Loujain is at home, but she is not free. The fight is not over,” Lina said.
Saudi authorities have not officially commented on her detention, trial or release. After being tried in Riyadh’s criminal court, Hathloul’s case was transferred in November to the anti-terrorism court, which campaigners say is used to silence critical voices under the cover of fighting terrorism.
Foreign Minister Prince Faisal bin Farhan subsequently said Hathloul was accused of contacting “unfriendly” states and providing classified information, but her family said no evidence to support the allegations had been put forward.
While some women activists detained along with Hathloul have been provisionally released, many others remain imprisoned on what rights groups describe as opaque charges. The detentions have cast a spotlight on the human rights record of the kingdom.
