Saudi Woman Sentenced to 11 Years for Social Media Posts and Clothing Choices: Amnesty
A 29-year-old Saudi woman named Manahel Al-Otaibi was sentenced to 11 years in prison in January.
The details of her case were revealed in Saudi Arabia's response to a UN human rights office inquiry.
Al-Otaibi, a fitness instructor, was punished for her social media posts advocating against the kingdom's male guardianship system and for her choice of clothing.
Amnesty International called for her release.
Amnesty International and Al-Qst, a Saudi human rights group, reported that a Saudi woman named Al-Otaibi was sentenced for posting the hashtag "Abolish male guardianship" and videos of herself wearing non-traditional clothes and shopping without an abaya on social media.
However, Saudi Arabia's international media office did not respond to Reuters' questions about the allegations.
In its response to the U.N. rights office, Saudi Arabia denied that Al-Otaibi was sentenced for her social media posts, claiming instead that she was convicted of terrorist offenses with no relation to her freedom of expression.
Saudi Arabia convicted a man named Al-Otaibi under its counter-terrorism law, which has been criticized by the UN for being overly broad and used to suppress dissent.
The UN human rights office did not comment on the specific case, but Amnesty International reported that Al-Otaibi's sister, Fawzia, also faced similar charges and fled the country after being summoned for questioning in 2022.
The Saudi response to the report did not provide additional details.