The UN Human Rights Office also asks the Saudi authorities to re -examine all the condemnations relating to the freedom of expression of human rights defenders
Le Monde
The UN asked Friday, August 19, the immediate and unconditional release of a Saudi student sentenced to thirty-four years in prison for critical government tweets.
“We are dismayed by the condemnation of the Saudi doctoral student Salma al-Chehab (…) in connection with a series of tweets and retweets on political and human rights issues in Saudi Arabia,” said a spokesperson for UN Human Rights Office, Liz Throssell. “She should never have been stopped and charged for such facts,” she added in a press release .
A 34 -year prison sentence
A Saudi court of appeal condemned Salma al-Chehab to a sentence of thirty-four years in prison, accompanied by a ban on leaving his country for a similar period after his release of detention, according to a judgment rendered the August 9 and whose agency France-Presse was able to consult a copy this week. The Saudi tribunal condemned him for having “provided help”, via his tweets, to political opponents who seek to “disturb public order”, according to the judicial document.
“We urge the Saudi authorities to cancel their conviction and free it immediately and unconditionally,” said M me Throssell. Worrying about this “conviction of an extraordinarily long duration”, the spokesperson worried about the “deterrent” effects that she could have on “the detractors of the government and on civil society in general”.
This conviction, she noted, “constitutes a new example of the user-friendly and anticybercriminal laws of the country to target human rights defenders and people who express dissident opinions, intimidate and exercise reprisals against them “.
In addition to the release of M me al-chehab, the UN Human Rights Office asks the Saudi authorities to re-examine all the condemnations relating to the freedom of expression of the defenders of the defenders human rights. This includes, said the press release, “women who were imprisoned after having legitimately asked for discriminatory policies, as well as religious leaders and journalists”.