A thousand and one days and a thousand and one nights. This is the time that Saudi feminist activist Loujain Al-Hathloul spent in prison. The 31-year-old young woman, symbol of the repressive turn taken by the monarchy under the rule of Crown Prince Mohammed Ben Salman (known as “MBS”), icon of the fight for the emancipation of Saudis, was released on Wednesday February 10.
She was arrested in May 2018, because of her activism on social networks, including her calls to grant women the right to drive, a measure that was to come into effect a few days later. In December 2020, a court sentenced her to five years and eight months in prison, including a suspension of two years and ten months, for “activities prohibited by the anti-terrorism law”. The period spent in pre-trial detention being taken into account, his release was due in February.
Her sisters, who reside in Europe, posted on Twitter an image of her at her parents’ home in Riyadh, where she appears smiling, but skinny, hollow features, with locks of graying hair. As if his two years and nine months of imprisonment, punctuated by acts of torture and sexual harassment, had counted triple or quadruple.
His release crowns the efforts of international human rights organizations, particularly mobilized on his case. It also reflects the concern of the Saudi crown to appease the new American administration, which says it is determined, unlike the previous one, to make the defense of human rights a marker of its foreign policy.
Biden: “Freeing her was the right thing to do”
On Wednesday, a few hours after Loujain Al-Hathloul was released from prison, the new American president, Joe Biden, declared that“She was an important activist for women’s rights” and “Freeing her was the right thing to do”. Before entering the White House, the Democrat had harsh words against “MBS”, son of King Salman and strongman of the crown, considered by the CIA as the sponsor of the assassination, in 2018, of the journalist and dissident Jamal Khashoggi.
French President Emmanuel Macron said on Twitter that he was delighted with this event and that he shared the relief of Loujain Al-Hathloul’s family. The occupant of the Elysee Palace had called, in 2019, for the release of the French-speaking activist, a former student at the Sorbonne-Abu Dhabi.
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