# Saudi court sentences Loujain al-Hathloul after women’s-rights prosecution

Date: 2020

On 28 December 2020, Saudi Arabia’s Specialized Criminal Court sentenced women’s-rights defender [Loujain al-Hathloul](/people/loujain-al-hathloul) to five years and eight months in prison after proceedings Amnesty International described as deeply unfair. Amnesty reported that the charges arose from her peaceful advocacy for women’s rights and ending the male guardianship system, and that part of the sentence was suspended and backdated to her detention beginning in May 2018. The sentencing followed more than two years of detention. The event is recorded here as a dated judicial act against peaceful rights advocacy, not as a general description of Saudi criminal justice. Its relevance is the use of a terrorism-specialized court and criminal penalties against protected civic activity. The source also records allegations of torture and ill-treatment during detention; those allegations are preserved as allegations rather than converted into an unqualified finding in this event record.

## People

- Mohammed bin Salman Al Saud: https://factrail.ai/people/mohammed-bin-salman

## Drivers

- Civic Space: https://factrail.ai/drivers/civic-space
- State Repression: https://factrail.ai/drivers/state-repression

## Sources

- https://www.amnesty.org/en/latest/news/2020/12/saudi-arabia-loujain-alhathlouls-sentencing-partially-suspended-is-still-cruel-2/

## Methodology

https://factrail.ai/methodology

Canonical: https://factrail.ai/facts/sa-loujain-sentencing-2020