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This is an absolute disgrace: #Saudi Arabian women's rights activists stood trial on Wednesday for the first time since their arrest over nine months ago. Several of them have been tortured google.com/amp/s/mobile.r…
ALQST, a London-based #Saudi rights group, said the women were charged under the kingdom's cybercrime law, which stipulates prison sentences ranging from one to 10yrs. The accusations are related to human rights work & communications with "hostile entities", ALQST said on Twitter
This trial is a travesty. These #Saudi women’s rights activists have long fought to end the male guardianship system. They have been detained since May and tortured at the orders of Crown Prince “emancipator of women” Mohamed Bin Salman
“Relatives said they were told at the last minute that the trial had been moved from the Specialized Criminal Court, which was set up to try terrorism cases but is often used for political offences.”
”It was unclear what was behind the decision, but diplomats said they were hopeful it signaled a more lenient handling of the cases after months of lobbying by Western governments.”
The detained women’s rights activists also include Nouf Abdelaziz, Mayaa al-Zahrani, Samar Badawi, Nassima al-Saada, Shadan al-Onezi, Amal al-Harbi and Mohammed al-Rabia, according to rights groups.
