Saudi woman sentenced to 45 years in prison for social media use

A Saudi court has sentenced a woman to 45 years in prison for 'damaging the country' through her social media use.

The woman, identified as Nourah bint Saeed al-Qahtani, hails from one of the biggest tribes in Saudi Arabia and has no apparent history of activism.

The court, which normally handles political and national security cases, gave the sentence during al-Qahtani's appeal of her earlier conviction.

Judges accused al-Qahtani of “disrupting the cohesion of society” and “destabilising the social fabric,” according to the charge sheet, citing her activity on social media.

An official charge sheet accessed by The Associated Press and human rights groups describes her case as involving her social media use, though Saudi officials did not respond to requests for comment.

Not long ago, a similar 34-year prison sentence was handed down to Salma al-Shehab, a Saudi doctoral student at Leeds University in England.

With agency inputs

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