The family of Saudi women's rights activist Loujain al-Hathloul said Wednesday it was appealing her sentence but expected no success in the Saudi judicial system.
Al-Hathloul was sentenced to five
years and eight months in prison for terrorism. Now, her family says the country's judicial system was
"politically motivated" and the trial against her was a "sham." Al Hathloul was first arrested
in May 2018 along with others who had pushed to end a ban on women driving.
"We are going to be appealing
the verdict even though [we] don't have any hope from the Saudi judicial
system," her brother Walid al-Hathloul said.
Al-Hathloul, 31, is a graduate of
the University of British Columbia. She was arrested just before the kingdom
lifted a driving ban for women. She was charged with undermining the kingdom in
a case that supporters decried as a political persecution.
Al-Hathloul was given her sentence
by a Saudi court Monday - a decision that attracted international criticism. A
motion to appeal her sentence needs to be filed within a month.
The United Nations Human Rights
office said Al-Hathloul's "arbitrary" arrest was "deeply
troubling." The agency said it would request her early release. France's
foreign ministry said it asked the Saudi government to grant her "quick
release."
National security adviser for Joe
Biden's incoming administration Jake Sullivan said on social media
Al-Hathloul's arrest was unjustified as she was exercising her "universal
rights."
Authorities arrested the
31-year-old activist along with about a dozen other women's rights activists in
2018. They were arrested weeks before the Saudi government lifted the
decadeslong law that banned women from driving motorized vehicles in the
country.
Al-Hathloul was first tried in
Saudi's criminal court before she was transferred last month to the country's
Specialized Criminal Court. Activists - who have described the court as
Riyadh's "anti-terrorism court" - said that trails held there were
used to silence critical voices.
Al-Hathloul was convicted of being
conspiring with groups and entities that had violated Saudi's anti-terrorism
laws. These groups were believed to be guilty of inciting a regime change and
disrupting public order.
Public prosecutors initially sought
a 20-year jail term for Al-Hathloul but the court agreed to suspend several
years of her sentence "if she committed no crime" within the next
three years.
