It was a tweet in Arabic from Lina al-Hathloul, his sister, who announced: "Loujain has been released".
Posting a smiling portrait of the 31-year-old human rights activist, her sister said that "Loujain came home after 1,001 days in prison."
“Loujain is at home, but she is not free.
The fight is not over, ”her sister continued.
Saudi authorities have not officially commented on his detention, trial or release.
“The release of Loujain al-Hathloul after a terrible ordeal in prison in Saudi Arabia, which lasted almost three years, is an incredible relief,” said Lynn Maalouf of Amnesty International.
“Nothing can make up for the cruel treatment she suffered, nor the injustice of her imprisonment,” underlines the NGO.
The Saudi activist was arrested in May 2018, along with others, shortly before the lifting of the driving ban on Saudi women, a reform for which these women were campaigning.
She was sentenced on December 29 to five years and eight months in prison under an "anti-terrorism" law, including a two-year and ten-month suspension "on condition that she did not commit a new crime within three years. ".
With the period in pre-trial detention taken into account, her family was optimistic that she would be released by March.
The court also banned him from leaving the kingdom for five years, according to his family.
Joe Biden's election has an impact
"It is certain that his release is a welcome step," US State Department spokesman Ned Price reacted from Washington.
“Promoting women's rights and other human rights must never be criminalized.
"New US President Joe Biden pledged during his election campaign to make Saudi Arabia a" pariah "state because of its human rights abuses, which his predecessor Donald Trump had largely overlooked during his tenure.
The Democratic president is expected to try to push for the release of prisoners with dual US and Saudi citizenship, activists and even members of the royal family, many of whom are being held without formal charges.
"Elections matter and the arrival of the Biden administration, which has put human rights at the top of its priorities for Saudi Arabia, has an impact," said Kristin Diwan of the Arab Gulf States Institute in Washington.
“We have to go further before we can talk about progress in terms of human rights,” he nevertheless believes.
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An activist for the cause of Saudi women, Loujain al-Hathloul defended the right of women to drive and opposed tutelage putting women at the total mercy of men.
She had been described as a "traitor" by the local press for having had contact with diplomats and international NGOs.
She went on a hunger strike in prison on October 26 before interrupting it two weeks later, according to Amnesty International and her family.
While in detention, she was the victim of sexual harassment and torture, according to her family, allegations denied by the authorities.
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His case was transferred at the end of November to a court in charge of "terrorism" cases, according to his family.
Saudi Foreign Minister Faisal ben Farhan revealed in early December that Loujain al-Hathloul was accused of having been in contact with states “hostile” to the kingdom and of having transmitted confidential information.
But the Saudi government has provided no tangible evidence to support the accusations, according to relatives of the activist.
In December, the UN human rights office ruled the sentence "deeply disturbing", calling the activist's detention "arbitrary".
Amnesty International denounced the regime's “cruelty” to “one of the bravest women” in the kingdom.
