Originally posted on The Middle East Monitor, March 11, 2021
Saudi Arabia yesterday allowed foreign diplomats to meet human rights activist Loujain Al-Hathloul before she appeared in the appeals court in the capital Riyadh.
Video clips showed the Saudi activist greeting diplomats before entering the court building.
In the video clips Al-Hathloul appeared to thank the diplomats for attending, adding: “Let’s hope the verdict has been changed or slightly modified .. and we will see how things are going .. Thank you very much for your support.”
Later in the day, her family said the appeal against her sentence had been lost ,meaning the travel ban imposed on her would not be lifted.
The prominent women’s rights activist was released from a Saudi prison last month after nearly three years behind bars, in a case that has drawn international condemnation.
The 31-year-old was detained in May 2018 and sentenced in December to nearly six years in prison on charges that UN human rights experts have called “spurious” under broad counter-terrorism laws. The court, which also ordered a five-year travel ban, suspended two years and 10 months of her sentence, most of which had already been served.
