Saudi Arabia
Women's rights activist freed after 1000 days in prison
Loujain al Hatloul, 31, has returned home from prison. Thinner and with an early patch of white hair on her forehead, but still smiling. She had been arrested in 2018 just weeks before the lifting of the ban on women driving that she had fought for for years. Along with her, other women had been detained, all prominent in the rights campaign: like her, they had been tortured, deprived of sleep, and sexually harassed.
The face of women’s protests in the Kingdom of Saud for women’s emancipation, starting with the right to drive, Hathloul had been sentenced to five years and eight months in prison for terrorism offenses.
The release is the latest of the moves fielded by Prince Mohammad bin Salman Al Saud to improve his image in Washington and the world.