Meghan’s Saudi friend faces jail for ‘conspiring against’ Arab state
A WOMEN’S rights activist who befriended Meghan Markle at a global conference is facing a long jail sentence in Saudi Arabia.
Loujain Al- Hathloul, 28, has allegedly confessed to conspiring with enemies of the Middle Eastern kingdom and could be imprisoned for treason, human rights monitors warned. Treason can carry a 20-year sentence – or even the death penalty.
Miss Al-Hathloul met Meghan, now the Duchess of Sussex, two years ago when they attended a humanitarian summit in Ottawa, Canada.
A photo taken for Vanity Fair showed her posing with the US actress with former Irish president Mary Robinson and writer Fatima Bhutto, a member of the Pakistani political dynasty.
Writing at the time, Meghan praised activists who had spoken out about human rights violations, gender equality, discrimination and injustice, saying: ‘They are the change.’
Miss Al-Hathloul studied in Canada but continued to campaign for women to have the right to drive in Saudi Arabia. She was held in prison for 73 days in 2014 after she defied the driving ban.
She later received a royal pardon but in March was stopped in Abu Dhabi and flown back to Saudi Arabia, where she was banned from leaving the country or using social media. Two months later, she was among five women and two men detained by the Saudi authorities. Amnesty International said the detainees are alleged to have confessed to communicating with the kingdom’s enemies.
They are expected to go before a court that was set up to deal with terrorism suspects but which has increasingly been used for cases related to human rights activism.