RIYADH: A Saudi court on Monday handed prominent activist Loujain al-Hathloul a prison term of five years and eight months for terrorism-related crimes, but a suspended sentence will allow her release within months, her family said.

Hathloul, 31, was arrested in May 2018 with about a dozen other women activists just weeks before the historic lifting of a decades-long ban on female drivers, a reform they had long campaigned for, sparking a torrent of international criticism.

The partial suspension of her sentence follows intense global pressure for her release and comes ahead of next month’s inauguration of US President-elect Joe Biden, who has pledged a tough stance on the kingdom over human rights after it largely got a free pass under President Donald Trump.

The court handed Hathloul a prison term of five years and eight months, but suspended two years and 10 months of the sentence “if she does not commit any crime” within the next three years, the pro-government online outlet Sabq and other media allowed to attend her trial cited the court as saying.

The women’s rights activist was convicted of cooperating with entities criminalised by the kingdom’s anti-terrorism law, inciting regime change and seeking to disrupt public order, they added.

“A suspension of 2 years and 10 months in addition to the time already served (since May 2018) would see her (released) in approximately two months,” Lina al-Hathloul, the activist’s sister, wrote on Twitter.

Published in Dawn, December 29th, 2020