I really hope this article gets promoted because this lady has changed history. She created a revolution in the country. She has proved that whilst an educated man only changes the family, an educated woman can change the world. If that doesn't get promoted on this site, then I don't know what will.
Loujain al-Hathloul, the Saudi women’s rights activist detained three years ago by the Saudi government, has been sentenced to five years and eight months in jail after being found guilty of spying with foreign parties and conspiring against the kingdom.
But the court suspended two years and 10 months of her sentence, and backdated the start of her jail term to May 2018, meaning she only has three months left to serve.
Although human rights campaigners will say she should never have been detained for so long without charge, the prospect of serving only a further three months in jail will help defuse a potentially damaging early confrontation with the Biden administration that would have occurred if she had been locked up for a further 20 years, as seemed possible at one point.
She had been arrested in May 2018 along with four other human rights activists. She claims she was not allowed to speak to anyone for seven weeks after her arrest.
Hathloul’s sister, Lina, wrote in a tweet that although the ruling meant her sister could be released in March 2021, she was also subject to a five-year travel ban. She said that both her sister and the prosecutor could appeal.
The suspension of Hathloul’s jail term is also dependent on her not repeating any of the offences over the next three years, a condition that would put a block on her freedom of speech, presuming she is required to stay in Saudi Arabia.
The human rights group Grant Liberty said: “Loujain is a peaceful campaigner for the basic freedoms the rest of the world takes for granted. In response, she has been imprisoned, tortured and abused by the Saudi authorities – yet they call her a terrorist.”
Her torture in jail
Her torture in jail involved waterboarding and electrocution. She showed black scars on her thighs from electrocution, when her parents met her in jail in December 2019. She was even threatened with rape by investigating male police officers.
It is an honour to be living in the same era as her. She will be on the right side of history.
She must honour her scars because her scars are a proof that she fought a battle and won a battle.
Having said that, she should have never been tortured in the first place.
Justice will not only be served by releasing her from jail or from sharing her story but also by punishing the male investigating police officers for torturing her before they torture another Saudi female campaigner.
She has proved that an educated man might change the family but an educated woman can change the entire world.
And she has changed the entire world.
She is my queen.
And I want to encourage everybody to become the voice of the voiceless.
We need to start a hashtag #freeloujain
And she will be released in March, when we celebrate International Women's Independence Day.
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