Al-Hathloul's trial 'moved to terrorism court'

Saudi Arabia has put women’s rights activist Loujain al-Hathloul on trial on Wednesday, more than 900 days after she was detained, and just after the country wrapped up hosting duties on a virtual G20 summit, her family have been told.

The family of the jailed Saudi women's rights activist Loujain al-Hathloul says her trial has been transferred to a terrorism tribunal.

Ms Hathloul's sister Lina said her parents had been informed that the case would be heard by the Specialised Criminal Court.

Human rights groups say the SCC, which was set up in 2008 to try terrorism cases, has been used to prosecute peaceful dissidents and that it is notorious for violations of fair trial standards.

Wednesday's hearing was the first time since 26 October that Ms Hathloul's family has had any news of her since she went on hunger strike in protest over her conditions in detention.

Her sister Lina tweeted that she looked weak and shook uncontrollably when she appeared in court, where their parents were present.

She also said that Loujain had told them that she ended her hunger strike after two weeks because the guards at her prison began waking her up every two hours at night and deprived her of sleep. 

Ahead of the G20 summit – which had women’s empowerment as one of its themes – Saudi Arabia’s ambassador to the UK had said the country was considering “clemency” for jailed female activists, even though most have not been found guilty of any crime or even had a day in court.

Khalid bin Bandar bin Sultan bin Abdulaziz Al Saud said a debate was under way in the foreign ministry about whether their continued detention was causing Saudi Arabia so much political damage that it was not worthwhile. However, the meeting came and went without any of them being released.