(ANSA) - ROME, AUGUST 17 - Sentenced to 34 years in prison for opening a Twitter profile and following and retweeting dissidents and activists: this is what happened to 34-year-old Saudi Salma al-Shehab - who is attending a PhD from the British University of Leeds and she is the mother of two small children - once she returned to her country for a holiday.
As reported by the Guardian, the Special Terrorist Tribunal's ruling was handed down weeks after US President Joe Biden's visit to Saudi Arabia, seen by activists as an encouragement to step up pressure on dissidents and other pro-democracy activists.
The woman was initially sentenced to three years in prison for the "crime" of using an Internet site aimed at "causing public unrest and destabilizing civil and national security", but on Monday an appeal court issued the new sentence of 34 years in prison. and a 34-year travel ban after the prosecutor asked the court to consider other alleged crimes.
According to a translation of the court documents that the Guardian has seen, according to the new accusations Shehab would have helped "those who seek to cause public disorder and destabilize civil and national security by following their Twitter accounts" and by retweeting their content.
Shehab should still be able to appeal.
(HANDLE).