Female Saudi activist gets record 34 years in prison for critical tweets

BEIRUT — Saudi Arabia quietly sentenced a woman last week to 34 years in prison over her Twitter activity, marking the longest Saudi sentence ever for a peaceful activist and launching a fresh wave of fear among the government’s detractors, three rights groups said.

The woman, Salma al-Shehab, was detained in January 2021 in Saudi Arabia, where she was on vacation, days before the Saudi citizen and mother of two was set to return to her home in Britain, according to rights groups. The charges against the 33-year-old all revolved around her Twitter activity, according to court documents.