A Saudi Arabia activist was sentenced to almost six years in prison under a counterterrorism law in spite of international criticism of her trial and allegations she had been tortured, Elle and other news organizations reported Tuesday.
Based on local news reports, 31-year-old Loujain al-Hathloul - who campaigned for women's rights to drive motor vehicles - was charged with seeking to disrupt Saudi Arabia's political system, conspiring with foreign governments and posing a threat to national security.
The ruling and sentencing are a challenge to Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman's relations with U.S. President-elect Joe Biden - who has denounced the kingdom's human rights record.
According to Al Jazeera, Hathloul's family said Saudi authorities offered to free her in 2019 if she testified on video she wasn't tortured or sexually abused. She refused.
A judge said Hathloul confessed to the charges and dismissed her claims she was subjected to physical harm by electric shock and water-boarding and had been threatened with rape following her arrest.
Saudi officials said there was no connection between Hathloul's arrest and her activism. But human rights organizations say her arrest was "punishment" for her political advocacy, The New York Times reported.
Hathloul has been in detention since 2018 along with at least a dozen other women's rights activists.
She spent eight months in solitary in 2019 and in October went on hunger strike to protest her treatment.
The Saudi court suspended two years and 10 months of her sentence. With time served she could be released in February next year, reports said.
Hathloul's family said she will be banned from leaving Saudi Arabia for five years and has been ordered to serve three years' probation following her release.
