Pen used in assault on Manahel al-Otaibi, who has been imprisoned for 11 years for ‘terrorist’ tweets after secret trial
A Saudi Arabian fitness instructor and influencer has been stabbed in the face in prison after being jailed in January for promoting women’s rights on social media.
Manahel al-Otaibi, 30, was sentenced to 11 years in prison for “terrorist offences” in a secret trial that generated widespread criticism, with activists saying it showed the “hollowness” of Saudi progress in human rights.
This week, Manahel told her family she had been stabbed in the face with a sharp pen by an unknown assailant and required stitches. Her family said they had tried to report the attack to the Saudi government’s Human Rights Commission, but were ignored.
Along with her sisters, Maryam and Fawzia, Manahel had been targeted with a campaign of arrests, threats and intimidation after posting messages about female empowerment.
I heard a joke from a Saudi once where he said that everyone expected the antichrist to jump out of MBS’s palace.
It was a joke because if he had gotten caught saying that by the government, he’d probably be executed.
Got lots of stories of people who criticized KSA abroad in a completely different country, and then got arrested while traveling in or through KSA. Naturally, their respective embassies treated it as a non issue, and they would reappear months later with their mouth zipped shut.