Amnesty denounces Saudi court’s upholding al-Hathloul’s sentence

The Saudi activist lost a court appeal against sentence and well as travel ban after her provisional release last month.

Rights group Amnesty International has condemned a Saudi court’s decision to uphold the original sentence of women’s rights activist Loujain al-Hathloul, who was released from jail last month after serving half of her six-year sentencing. The court granted al-Hathloul provisional release, and placed her under a five-year travel ban. The Saudi activist had filed an appeal to amend the verdict, but the court on Wednesday refused to amend the judgement. Al-Hathloul, who championed women’s right to drive and for an end to Saudi Arabia’s male guardianship system, was arrested on May 15, 2018, along with 11 other women rights activists. She was held without charges or trial for the first 10 months of her detention.