DUBAI — A Saudi court on Monday sentenced prominent women’s rights activist Loujain al-Hathloul to five years and eight months in prison, local media reported, in a trial that has drawn international condemnation as Riyadh faces new U.S. scrutiny.
Hathloul, 31, has been held since 2018 following her arrest along with at least a dozen other women’s rights activists.
The verdict, reported by Sabq and al-Shark al-Awsat newspapers, poses an early challenge to Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman’s relationship with U.S. President-elect Joe Biden, who has criticized Riyadh’s human rights record.
Hathloul was charged with seeking to change the Saudi political system and harming n…
Keep on reading: Saudi court hands prison sentence to women’s rights activist