Campaign Groups Urge Saudi Authorities to Release University of Leeds Student ‘within days’ From Saudi Prison 

A recent open letter, published 15/01/2025, has urged Saudi authorities to release Salma al-Shehab from Saudi imprisonment and grant her full freedom imminently.   

In December 2020, Salma al-Shehab was studying for her PhD at the University of Leeds  when she decided to return home to Saudi Arabia on a holiday. On 15^th January 2021, Salma was arrested for following and retweeting dissidents and activists. 

Salma was originally sentenced to serve three years in prison for using an internet website to “cause public unrest and destabilise civil and national security”. However, in August 2022, an appeals court gave Salma a new sentence of 34 years in prison followed by a 34-year travel ban. This came after Salma was convicted of new charges. The new charges included the claim that Salma was “assisting those who seek to cause public unrest and destabilise civil and national security by following their Twitter accounts” and by re-tweeting their tweets. 

According to The Guardian, the European Saudi Organization for Human Rights said that Salma’s sentence was the longest prison sentence to ever be brought against any activist.  

In September 2022, 400 academics from many universities and colleges, including the University of Leeds, signed an open letter calling for the UK Government to take action on Salma’s situation. 

In January 2023, Salma’s sentence was reduced to 27 years.  

On 25th March 2024, the University of Leeds’ branch of the University and College Union urged the imminent release of Salma in an open letter. The letter was signed by 340 students and employees at the university.   

Then, in a September 2024 retrial, the sentence was reduced again to four years.  

This newest decision was followed by another open letter, published on 15^th January 2025, where campaign groups embraced the decision to reduce Salma al-Shehab’s sentence while also urging authorities to grant Salma full freedom “within the next few days”.  

This recent open letter was signed by ALQST for Human Rights, DAWN, Freedom House, MENA Rights Group and Newcastle Fans Against Sportswashing. The letter states: “We expect al-Shehab to be released within the next few days, and urge the Saudi authorities to ensure she is granted full freedom, including the right to travel to complete her PhD studies at the University of Leeds in the UK”. 

The letter also emphasises the campaign groups’ concerns about Shehab’s health and wellbeing, stating: “her health has been deteriorating, and she has previously gone on hunger strike in protest against her unjust imprisonment. Her imprisonment has also separated her from her young children and derailed her academic career”.