Salma al-Shehab
Salma al-Shehab is a Saudi doctoral student at Leeds University who gained international attention after being sentenced to 34 years in prison in 2022 for her tweets criticizing the government. A member of Saudi Arabia's Shiite Muslim minority, she was detained in January 2021 while on vacation with her family and accused of 'disturbing public order' through her social media activity. Following advocacy from human rights groups, her sentence was drastically reduced to four years, and she was recently freed, prompting calls for her complete release and the right to travel for her studies.
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Recent news mentions
Salma al-Shehab spent more than four years imprisoned on terrorism-related charges for posting tweets in support of women’s rights.
The US assault on free speech is not going to end with Mahmoud Khalil | Arwa Mahdawi
United Kingdom· 2025-03-15
Salma al-Shehab is a Leeds University PhD student who was arrested for supporting women's rights in Saudi Arabia.
Boxing’s ‘Fight Card of the Century’ has a glaring omission: women | BoxingUnited Kingdom· 2025-02-20
Salma al Shehab, a student from Leeds, was arrested in Saudi Arabia for tweeting in support of women's rights.
Študentko v Savdski Arabiji, ki so jo zaprli zaradi tvitov, so izpustili
Slovenia· 2025-02-12
Salma al-Shehab is a doctoral student and women's rights advocate who was sentenced to 34 years in prison for her tweets.
Saudi authorities free doctoral student initially sentenced to 34 years for tweets: activists
Canada· 2025-02-10
Salma al-Shehab was sentenced to 34 years in prison over her use of Twitter and has now been released after her sentence was dramatically reduced.
Leeds student jailed in Saudi Arabia for 34 years over tweets is released | Saudi ArabiaUnited Kingdom· 2025-02-10Salma al-Shehab, a mother of two, had been sentenced to 34 years in prison back in 2022 over her tweets.
Saudi authorities free doctoral student initially sentenced to 34 years for tweets, activists say
India· 2025-02-10