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Saudi Arabia sentences an activist to 11 years in prison for 'supporting women's rights'

Fitness instructor Manahel al-Otaibi was imprisoned in January. Four months later, she was able to contact her family and report the abuse she had experienced.

La activista saudí Manahel al-Otaibi, de 25 años, camina vestida con ropa occidental en Riad, capital saudí, el 2 de septiembre de 2019. Grupos de derechos humanos denunciaron el 30 de abril de 2024 una condena de 11 años de prisión dictada por un tribunal antiterrorista contra una instructora de fitness y activista saudí por los derechos de las mujeres.

Imagen de archivo de la activista de Arabia Saudí, Manael al-Otaibi (

Published by
Rosana Rábago Sainz

Saudi Arabia sentenced an activist to 11 years in prison for "supporting women's rights." Fitness instructor Manahel al-Otaibi was imprisoned in January of this year after the Saudi government accused her "for her choice of clothing" as well as her "supporting women's rights."

After this, the trail was lost until April 26 of this year, when the young woman was able to contact her family and reported that she had been physically abused and that, in fact, she had a broken leg as a result of said "beatings," as revealed the head of Amnesty International's campaigns on Saudi Arabia, Bissan Fakih, who also reported that he knew that the young woman had been the victim of this abuse from November 2023 to April of this year:

Manahel’s conviction and 11-year sentence is an appalling and cruel injustice. Since the moment she was arrested, Saudi Arabia’s authorities have subjected her to a relentless catalogue of abuses, from unlawful detention for supporting women’s rights to enforced disappearance for over five months while she was being secretly interrogated, tried and sentenced and subjected to repeated beatings by others in the prison. With this sentence the Saudi authorities have exposed the hollowness of their much-touted women’s rights reforms in recent years and demonstrated their chilling commitment to silencing peaceful dissent.

When did authorities arrest Manahel al-Otaibi?

Although the physical abuse became known a few days ago, al-Otaibi's case was made public a few months ago. The sentence, determined by the Specialized Criminal Court on Jan. 9, was publicized on Jan. 25. At that time, Amnesty International explained, the Saudi government responded to a request for information in a joint statement from U.N. special rapporteurs by stating that she had been convicted of "terrorist crimes" after her arrest in November 2022.

These alleged crimes, the agency reported, turned out to be, in reality, charges levied against her "solely on her choice of clothing and expression of her views online," going so far as to accuse her of wearing "indecent clothing" as well as going "to stores without wearing an abaya," which is a traditional dress.

Online activism: A crime in Saudi Arabia

These charges are similar to those brought against her sister, Fawzia al-Otaibi, who fled the country after receiving a summons for questioning in 2022, reports The Guardian. Her other sister, Maryam, was also detained, held, and eventually released in 2017 for protesting against guardianship rules, the same law under which Manahel was arrested two years ago.

They are not the only ones. The British newspaper also recalled that in Saudi Arabia, several female activists have been arrested in recent years whose only crime was expressing themselves through their social media platforms. This was the case of Salma al-Shehab, sentenced to 27 years in prison; Fatima al-Shawarbi, who received a 30-year prison sentence; Sukaynah al-Aithan, who must remain in prison for 40 years; and Nourah al-Qahtani, whose sentence was 45 years.

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