Saudi authorities free doctoral student initially sentenced to 34 years for tweets, activists say

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — A Saudi doctoral student at Leeds University in Britain has been freed after seeing her 34-year sentence for her activity on Twitter in Saudi Arabia drastically reduced, a rights group said Monday

Salma al-Shehab, a mother of two, had been sentenced to 34 years in prison back in 2022 over her tweets.

A London-based Saudi rights group, ALQST, announced her release. In January, ALQST and other groups said al-Shehab had seen her sentence reduced to four years in prison, with an additional four years suspended.

“Her full freedom must now be granted, including the right to travel to complete her studies,” the group said.

Saudi Arabia did not immediately acknowledge her release. Saudi officials did not immediately respond to a request for comment from The Associated Press.

Al-Shehab was detained during a family vacation on Jan. 15, 2021, just days before she planned to return to the United Kingdom. She is a member of Saudi Arabia’s Shiite Muslim minority, which has long complained of systematic discrimination in the Sunni-ruled kingdom.

Judges accused al-Shehab of “disturbing public order” and “destabilizing the social fabric” — claims stemming solely from her social media activity, according to an official charge sheet. They alleged al-Shehab followed and retweeted dissident accounts on Twitter and “transmitted false rumors.”