Saudi Arabia Sentences Schoolgirl To 18 Years Over Tweets (Image: www.pixabay.com/photos)

The Saudi judicial system sentenced a teenage girl to 18 years over her tweets which supports political prisoners.

A travel ban was also imposed on her.

According to ALQST, a UK-based rights group, the Saudi Arabian judiciary under Mohammed bin Salman (known as MBS) has sentenced a teenage schoolgirl to 18 years over tweets she posted criticising the government.

The girl, Manal Al-Gafiri, was reportedly accused for supporting political prisoners, expressing her views and opinions through Twitter. She was sentenced during an appeal at the Special Criminal Court (SCC) in August, and a travel ban was also imposed.

While being arrested, the girl was only 17 years-old, said ALQST.

ALQST has disclosed that matter on Friday through an X post (formerly Twitter) saying that, “Last month, SaudiArabia’s Specialised Criminal Court sentenced 18-year old secondary school student Manal al-Gafiri to 18 years in jail and a travel ban of the same length for posting tweets in support of prisoners of conscience”.

ALQST or Al Qst, is a non-profit human rights organisation that documents and promotes human rights in Saudi Arabia, with a team in Saudi Arabia that researches cases and a team in London that publishes reports and news.

🚨 Last month, #SaudiArabia’s Specialised Criminal Court sentenced 18-year old secondary school student Manal al-Gafiri to 18 years in jail and a travel ban of the same length for posting tweets in support of prisoners of conscience.

She was only 17 at the time of her arrest.

— ALQST for Human Rights (@ALQST_En) September 22, 2023

The Prisoners of Conscience, which specializes in reporting the news of Saudi detainees, analysed the authenticity of the news and confirmed it.

🔴IMPORTANT
Confirmed that the Specialized Criminal Court issued an 18-year prison sentence against activist Manal Saleh Al-Qufairi, last August, just because of tweets in which she expressed her opinion. pic.twitter.com/TcV4a9Gxxs

— Prisoners of Conscience (@m3takl_en) September 22, 2023

Since MBS has became the Saudi crown prince in June 2017, dozens of Imams, women’s rights activists, and members of the ruling royal family have been detained for using social media, says reports.

According to reports, in August 2022 alone three were sentenced for using social media.

• A woman named Salma Al-Shehab was sentenced to 34 years in prison for having a Twitter account and for posting tweets about activists and critics of the MBS regime.
• Nourah al-Qahtani, a mother of five, was sentenced a week later to 45 years in prison over tweets from two anonymous accounts.
• A  prominent former imam and preacher at the Grand Mosque in Makkah Sheikh Saleh Al Talib was sentenced to ten years in prison.

In 2023, a death sentence was also produced to Mohammed al-Ghamdi, a retired teacher and brother of a prominent Saudi preacher for tweeting about human rights.