A prominent Saudi Arabian women’s rights activist whose arrest and alleged torture drew international condemnation was convicted of crimes against the state but could be freed from prison early next year, according to her family.
Loujain Al-Hathloul, 31, was found guilty on Monday by a court in Riyadh of inciting regime change, seeking to serve foreign agendas through the internet with the goal of harming public order and cooperating with individuals and entities criminalized by the kingdom’s anti-terrorism law, according to the online Saudi newspaper Sabq.
She was sentenced to five years and eight months in prison, but accounting for time served since her arrest in May 2018, and a partial sentence suspension of two years and 10 months, she could be released in about two months, her sister Lina Al-Hathloul wrote on Twitter. She was also banned from traveling abroad for five years, and both the public prosecutor and her family can appeal the sentence, her sister said.