Saudi women activists face ‘bogus’ charges: Rights group

UK-based rights group Amnesty International says Saudi Arabia has leveled “bogus” charges against some 10 women rights activists.

According to Press TV, referring to the Saudi activists, the rights group said on Thursday “Some of the women were charged with promoting women’s rights and calling for the end of the male guardianship system. The women were also charged with contacting international organizations, foreign media and other activists, including their contact with Amnesty International.”

Amnesty’s statement came after a trial was held for the women in Riyadh’s criminal court on Wednesday. The women were among more than a dozen rights activists held without charge for nearly a year after being arrested by Saudi authorities last May.

The women, many of whom had long campaigned for women’s right to drive in the hidebound country, had been accused by some Saudi authorities of undermining national security and aiding enemies of the state at the time of arrest.

Saudi state media also described the women as being traitors and “agents of embassies” at the time.

Following the recent hearing, the London-based Saudi rights group ALQST said the women had been charged on the pretext of violating the kingdom’s Cybercrime Law — which can lead to sentences of up to 10 years in prison — for allegedly having contacted “hostile entities,” including human rights organizations.

Amnesty International’s West Asia Campaigns Director, Samah Hadid, slammed the trial as “yet another stain on the Saudi authorities’ appalling human rights record,” which “shows how empty the government’s claims of reform really are.”

Saudi Arabia and some Western media have portrayed Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman as a “reformer” on a campaign to change the country’s ultraconservative moves. But those claims have been largely discredited by more recent revelations that Mohammed has been overseeing an intense crackdown — including reported torturing — on activists and dissidents.

“The charges against the activists are the latest example of the Saudi authorities abusing legislation and the justice system to silence peaceful activists,” Hadid said.

ME