Masked interrogators abused Saudi women activists, court hears

Nearly a dozen Saudi women’s rights activists seated before a three-judge panel in a Riyadh courtroom yesterday laid out their defence and spoke of physical and sexual abuse they say they were subjected to by masked interrogators.

It marked a significant moment for the 11 women on trial, nearly all of whom were taken from their homes in the Saudi capital ten months ago and transferred to the Red Sea city of Jiddah just weeks before the kingdom lifted its ban on women driving.

The women, appearing in their second court session since their arrest last May, had long pushed for the right to drive and called for an end to restrictive male guardianship laws.

The laws require women of all ages to have a male relative’s consent to travel abroad, obtain a passport, marry or undergo certain medical procedures.

Several people with knowledge of the cases said charges against the women relate to their efforts to promote women’s rights and having contact with accredited foreign reporters, diplomats and human rights groups.

Yesterday, the women sat next to their relatives in Riyadh’s criminal court and spoke through a microphone to the presiding judge who sat before them.

In between the emotional speeches, in which some of the women wept, they were able to hug and speak with one another and their families.

The women were expected to appear back in court next week for what could be the final session of the trial.

Journalists working for foreign media, diplomats and other independent observers have not been allowed to sit in on the hearings.

The judge was expected to decide today whether to grant some of the women temporary release from prison. The releases, if granted, would not be before Sunday.

One of the women told the panel of three judges that several men, who seemed intoxicated, appeared late one night and took her from her place of detention in Jiddah to a nearby secret location.

It is there that the women have said they were caned on their backs and thighs, electrocuted and waterboarded by masked men who did not identify themselves. Some women say they were forcibly touched and groped, made to break their fast during the Muslim holy month of Ramadan, and threatened with rape and death. One of the women attempted suicide in prison.

The government has denied charges of abuse as “wild claims” that are “simply wrong”.