Women’s rights activist ‘rejects’ Saudi silence deal

Jailed prominent Saudi Arabian rights activist Loujain al-Hathloul has reportedly rejected a plea deal which would have seen her released in return for her silence over alleged torture and sexual harassment she suffered in prison.

Walid al-Hathloul, her brother, said Saudi state security told Loujain to sign a document and deny on camera that she had been tortured to secure release.

She was arrested in May, with several other activists, in a crackdown on dissenters led by Mohammed bin Salman, the Crown Prince of Saudi Arabia.

Walid al-Hathloul, who lives in Canada, said his sister agreed to sign a document but not to appear on camera.

“Our initial agreement was that she will sign the document in which she will deny she had been tortured. And that’s why we remained silent in the past few weeks,” he wrote on Twitter.

“To appear on a video and to deny the torture doesn’t sound like a realistic demand.”

Lina al-Hathloul, her sister, tweeted earlier on Tuesday: “[I don’t know] what I’m risking by writing this. Maybe it will harm my sister too. But I can’t keep it to myself. Whatever happens I am certifying it one more time: Loujain has been brutally tortured and sexually harassed.”

Walid al-Hathloul said his sister, who was charged with attempting to destabilise the kingdom, told the family she had been whipped, beaten, electrocuted in a chair and harassed by masked men who would wake her at night and shout threats at her. She also claimed to have been forced to endure “verbal sexual abuse” and “sexual harassment”.

Some imprisoned activists testified before a judge in Riyadh in March to being physically and sexually abused.

The testimony matched claims made by Human Rights Watch, which reported that some women were sexually assaulted, waterboarded and forced to hang from the ceiling for long periods.

Loujain, who had campaigned for women’s right to drive and to end male guardianship in the ultraconservative kingdom, did not appear in court.

Her siblings, who all live outside of Saudi Arabia, have become vocal supporters.

Another sister, Alia, tweeted: “Deny what happened even if you have to record it on camera. What is important is that you are with us, I miss you.”