In a letter to the United Nations (UN), Saudi Arabia has confirmed that it has sentenced a female fitness instructor to 11 years in prison for ‘terrorism offences’.
Manahel al-Otaibi is popular online in Saudi Arabia for her fitness instruction videos, and was an outspoken critic of Saudi’s dress codes for women and male guardianship laws. These laws regulate how women are allowed to dress in Saudi. They force women to seek permission from a husband or male relative for a whole host of activities, including getting a passport or applying to study.
Al-Otaibi regularly posts on social media photos of herself wearing what the Saudi government has termed ‘indecent clothes’. She has also retweeted hashtags which include the phrase ‘overthrow the government’ in Arabic.
According to the Associated Press, Saudi Arabia charged al-Otaibi in November 2023 with ‘defaming the kingdom at home and abroad, calling for rebellion against public order and society’s traditions and customs, and challenging the judiciary and its justice’.
In its accusatory letter to the UN, the Saudi government said that ‘justifying the actions of terrorists by describing them as exercising or defending rights is unacceptable and constitutes an attempt to legitimize terrorist crimes’.
[Photo: Screenshot Twitter ALQST for human rights/The Sun]