Fears for Leeds University student Salma al-Shehab jailed by Saudis over Twitter use

Concerns are growing for a Leeds student who has been jailed for 34 years in Saudi Arabia for using Twitter.

Mother-of-two Salma al-Shehab, 34, was charged with following and retweeting dissidents and activists after returning to her home country for a holiday.

She travelled back to the Middle East in 2021, reportedly to see family, but was arrested on arrival. Before the trip she had retweeted content from several Saudi activists questioning the kingdom's regime.

She was initially sentenced to serve three years in prison for using a website to "cause public unrest and destabilise civil and national security". An appeals court later handed down the new sentence of 34 years in prison and a 34 year travel ban.

Shehab was studying for a PhD at the University of Leeds and worked as a dental hygienist and medical educator, according to her social media accounts.

A University of Leeds spokesperson said: "We are deeply concerned to learn of this recent development in Salma’s case and we are seeking advice on whether there is anything we can do to support her.

"Our thoughts remain with Salma, her family, and her friends among our close-knit community of postgraduate researchers."

Hilary Benn, MP for Leeds Central, told ITV News that people needed to "speak up" He said: "Her children are four and six years old and they would be nearly 40 by the time she got out if this sentence is not overturned. It's absolutely shocking and it shows that for all of the claims of the Saudi Arabian authorities that they're trying to modernise the country and give greater freedoms to women in particular is not true.

"To go back to visit your family and then to find yourself arrested and sentenced to 34 years in prison for using Twitter to express your views is outrageous.

"That's why we need as many people as possible in Leeds and across the country to speak up on her behalf. When you're in that situation and knowing there are other people speaking for you is some comfort in the really difficult circumstances that Salma finds herself in."

Shehab's Twitter account has not been updated since 12 January 2021, three days before she was reportedly detained in the kingdom.

One of her last tweets was to wish a happy fifth birthday to her son. It translates: "Five happy years to the heart and eye of Mama. Happy birthday Adam."

Dana Ahmed, of Amnesty International, said the sentence was "absolutely shocking and unjustifiable".

"Her charges relate solely to her writings and to her use of Twitter so there is nothing in her charges that justifies her being sentenced under several provisions under the counter terrorism law," she said.

"We have seen that the Saudi Arabian authorities have routinely misused the counter terror law to silence and prosecute activists and human rights defenders for their human rights work.

"We call on the Saudi Arabian government to immediately and unconditionally release Salma al-Shehab. We want to see her free and united with her family and we want to see her conviction quashed."

According to The Guardian, it appears the Saudi authorities were notified about Shehab's social media through a smart phone crime-reporting app called Kollona Amn, or We Are All Security.

The European Saudi Organization for Human Rights condemned her sentence as "unprecedented and dangerous".

In a statement it said: "It is the longest prison sentence issued against female or male activists and might be a step towards further escalation against them.

"In recent years, many women activists have been subjected to unfair trials that have led to arbitrary sentences, in addition to some of them being subjected to severe torture, including sexual harassment."

It said the Saudi government had arrested at least 116 women in recent years, 60 of whom are still detained.

"Under the policy of impunity, no one has been held accountable for the abuses women were subjected to in prisons, despite the filing of multiple complaints of torture and ill-treatment," the organisation said.

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