Islam Times - Saudi Arabia Summons Its Most Prominent Female Activist after Release

Islam Times - Saudi Arabia's most prominent female activist Loujain al-Hathloul has been summoned by security officials, three months after her release, relatives say.

According to the Associated Press, Loujain al-Hathloul was informed on Sunday of a Supreme Court decision that ultimately upholds her initial conviction.

In May 2018, Hathloul and more than a dozen activists were arrested as part of a sweeping crackdown on activists who pushed for greater women’s rights and an end to a ban on female drivers.

Al-Hathloul was sentenced to five years and eight months with conditional release last December.

She was released on February 10 after about three years in prison where she was tortured and sexually harassed. She is still under probation and is barred from leaving Saudi Arabia.

Her sister, Alia al-Hathloul, told AP on Sunday that she was asked to report to the office of the Interior Ministry’s General Directorate of Investigation, or “mabaheth”, in the capital Riyadh. The reason she received a summon was not immediately known.

Later on Sunday, her relatives told AP and her sister, Lina al-Hathloul, confirmed on Twitter that she’d been called in to sign a document informing her of a supreme court decision to uphold the ruling of an appeals' court, which had upheld her initial conviction.

They questioned why she was informed of the legal ruling by a security agency.

The latest development comes as al-Hathloul has recently shared posts about a women's rights campaign against sexual harassment in Kuwait, and waded into the recent normalization of relations between some Arab regimes and Israel.