Almost hundreds of British academics have written an open letter urging Prime Minister Lizz Truss to intervene after a Leeds University student was sentenced to 34 years in Saudi Arabia.
34-year-old Saudi woman Salma Al-Shehab, a PhD student at the University of Leeds in the UK and a mother of two kids, was arrested while she was on a vacation in Saudi Arabia.
She was targeted because of her social media activism in support of women’s rights and solidarity with activists.
Salma Al-Shehab was initially sentenced to three years in prison by a special terrorist court.
On Monday, August 15, 2022, the Specialized Criminal Court of Appeal sentenced Salma Al-Shehab to 34 years in prison, followed by a 34-year travel ban, pursuant to various sections of the country’s anti-terrorism and cybercrime laws.
As per a report by Middle East Eye, almost 100 academics and research students from British universities have now signed an open letter calling on Liz Truss and foreign secretary, James Cleverly, to ensure the freedom for the PhD student.
“Salma should be looking forward, like us, to the new academic year, instead of languishing behind bars for the ‘crime’ of tweeting her legitimate opinions,” it read.
The letter added, “[Her sentence] shows that the Saudi leadership should continue to be held at arm’s length until the authorities demonstrate a genuine commitment to human rights.”
They also asked Truss and Ceverly to make “immediate representations” to their Saudi counterparts in a bid to secure Al-Shehab’s release and quash her conviction.
