‘Electrodes fixed to head’ of Saudi rights activist during prison calls
A DETAINED Saudi women’s rights activist had electrodes fixed to her head during phone calls with her family to prevent her speaking of the torture she suffered in prison, her sister said yesterday following her release.
Loujain al-hathloul was released to her family’s home in Riyadh on Wednesday after 1,001 days in prison on charges related to her activism. Under her probation she is unable to travel, use social media or speak to the media.
Her sisters, who live abroad, announced yesterday that Ms al-hathloul will seek legal redress in Saudi Arabia for torture she said she suffered in detention. “She was tortured and she cannot forget this,” her sister Lina said during an online press conference.
The family have previously claimed Ms al-hathloul was tortured – which Saudi authorities deny – but gave new details yesterday, including that the threat of electrocution stopped her speaking out. “If I complained about anything they were ready to electrocute me,” Lina said her sister told the family on Wednesday of her early months in detention. “It was months later that we found out about the torture,” when Ms al-hathloul was moved to another prison, Lina said.
Ms al-hathloul has identified one of her torturers as Saud Al Qahtani, a top adviser to the Saudi crown prince until he was sanctioned by the US over his role in the murder of journalist Jamal Khashoggi. “He’s the only person that we know the name of who was present at the torture sessions,” Lina said.
Mr Qahtani is notorious in Saudi Arabia, sometimes called the “lord of the flies” for his army of Twitter trolls used for attacking dissidents.
“Loujain recognised him, he’s a public figure,” her older sister Alia said.
Ms al-hathloul now hopes to use the Saudi justice system to prove she was tortured and seek justice. “The torturers must be sentenced,” Lina said.
In December last year, Ms al-hathloul was sentenced to nearly six years imprisonment over her activism, which included demanding the right for women to drive and calling for the abolition of the male guardianship system.
The family believe Ms al-hathloul’s early release was timed by the Saudi government to impress Joe Biden, the new US president, who has promised closer scrutiny of his close ally’s human rights record. “Saudi Arabia’s situation is tightly connected with what’s going on in the US,” Alia said. “The Biden administration made clear that they care about human rights.”