Saudi activist Lujian Al-Hadhloul begins hunger strike inside prison
SANAA, Oct. 27 (YPA) – The family of detained Saudi activist, Lujain Al-Hathloul announced Monday that the latter launched a hunger strike in a prison in the Kingdom.
On her Twitter account, Alia, sister of Lujain Al-Hadhloul, said: “Today at 7:00 pm Riyadh time, my sister went on a hunger strike because the administration of Al-Ha’er prison (in Riyadh) has been deprived of its right to contact the family.”
Saudi authorities did not comment, but the kingdom usually denies any failure to care for detainees in its prisons.
On May 15, 2018, Riyadh arrested a number of human rights activists, most notably Lujain Al-Hadhloul, Samar Badawi, Naseema al-Sada, Noof Abdul Aziz and Maya al-Zahrani.
Human rights reports at the time attributed the reasons for the arrest to their defence of women’s rights, in exchange for official accusations of undermining the country’s security.
Saudi Arabia faces international criticism over the conditions of freedom of expression and human rights, to which Riyadh says it is committed to “implementing the law transparently.”
E.M