Saudi Court’s Rejection of a Lawsuit Exposing Loujain Al-Hathloul to Torture, Harassment Criticized

By Staff, Agencies

Saudi media reported, Tuesday, that a court in Riyadh, had ruled not to accept a lawsuit filed by the family of detained activist, Loujain Al-Hathloul, regarding her exposure to torture and harassment, amid criticism of the ruling.

After 20 months since the case has been filed, the verdict, which could be appealed within 30 days according to a confirmation released by the court, came under criticism from the Hathloul family and activists who protested under the hashtag “Lujain Does Not Lie”.

According to what was published by the Saudi newspapers “Sabaq” and “Asharq al-Awsat”, on Tuesday, “The Criminal Court in Riyadh issued a preliminary ruling dismissing Al-Hathloul’s case regarding her claim of being subjected to torture and harassment while she was in prison over a security case”.

The court affirmed in the verdict that it “has not proven that the detainee has been subjected to torture or ill-treatment,” noting that it “has seen evidence and testimonies from the prosecution and prison officials proving the inaccuracy of her being tortured or harassed”.

The court gave Al-Hathloul a month to appeal the ruling.

Lina and Alia, the sisters of Loujain Al-Hathloul, rejected the verdict without announcing whether the family will be appealing it or not.

Lina explained in a tweet:

Lujain Does Not Lie, you are the liars, and the biggest proof is that the judge refused to let Lujain obtain a copy of the report in which the Public Prosecution denied the accusations of torture.

For her part, Alia tweeted

If the torture took place two years ago, this does not mean that we forget. We will call for our right until we attain all our rights.

Through his Twitter account, Ali Al-Dubaisi, Director of European Saudi Organization for Human Rights, tweeted:

An unarmed woman [referring to Lujain] is isolated and is conspired against by the most important state institutions, and from the midst of her cell, she is the strongest, and without saying a word, the world believes her while you are liars.

While Abdullah, son of the imprisoned preacher Salman al-Ouda, Tweeted:

After they tortured Lujain… now they are covering up the crime.

He pointed out that there was a “floundering” in the judicial procedures after a delay of 20 months, and then the urgency of looking into the case within two weeks.

On May 15, 2018, the Saudi authorities arrested a number of prominent human rights activists, most notably Loujain, Samar Badawi, Nassima Al-Sada, Nouf Abdel Aziz, and Maya Al-Zahrani.

Human rights reports at the time attributed the reasons for the arrest to their defense of women’s rights, in exchange for official accusations, including compromising the country’s security.

Saudi Arabia faces international criticism over the conditions of freedom of expression and human rights, but it has repeatedly affirmed its commitment to “implementing the law with transparency.”