A Saudi women’s rights advocate has been given an 11-year prison term in secret for her “choice of clothing and advocacy for women’s rights.”
Following inquiries from the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, Saudi authorities officially acknowledged that Manahel al-Otaibi was sentenced on January 9th for what the Saudi government labeled as “terrorist offenses.”
Initially detained in November 2022 for her social media activism promoting liberal reforms within the country, al-Otaibi was convicted of “terrorist offenses” in a covert trial earlier this year.
Saudi Arabia’s counter-terrorism laws specifically prohibit the dissemination of content on social media platforms aimed at inciting terrorist activities.
The specifics of her sentence emerged towards the end of January in response to inquiries from UN Special Rapporteurs about her case. However, her family still lacks access to her court records or the evidence used against her.
Primarily known as a fitness instructor, al-Otaibi used platforms like Instagram, Twitter, and Snapchat to express her opposition to Saudi Arabia’s male guardianship system, which requires women to obtain male consent for various activities such as travel, marriage, and living arrangements.
Additionally, she faced charges for sharing videos in which she appeared wearing clothing deemed “indecent” and for being in public without wearing an abaya. Her sister, Fawzia al-Otaibi, faces similar allegations but opted to leave Saudi Arabia out of concern for arrest after being called for questioning in 2022.
