The National Security Advisor to incoming US President Joe Biden says the sentencing of a female UBC graduate in Saudi Arabia to six years in prison, in part, for driving a car is “troubling.”.Jake Sullivan made the comments after 2014 graduate Loujain al-Hathloul, a prominent women’s’ rights activist in Saudi Arabia, to prison..On Monday, the country’s Specialised Criminal Court, which was set up to try terrorism cases, convicted her of various charges including trying to harm national security and advance a foreign agenda..At one point she videoed herself driving into the kingdom..“Saudi Arabia’s sentencing of Loujain al-Hathloul for simply exercising her universal rights is unjust and troubling. As we have said, the Biden-Harris administration will stand up against human rights violations wherever they occur,” tweeted Jake Sulivan..Al-Hathloul already been in pre-trial detention since 2018 and has endured several stretches of solitary confinement..With her time served added in, the woman could be freed in March 2021. But she will be barred from leaving Saudi Arabia for five years and required to serve three years of probation after her release..Al-Hathloul was detained just weeks before Saudi women were finally allowed to drive in 2018 – the cause she championed..“She was charged, tried and convicted using counter-terrorism laws,” her sister, Lina al-Hathloul, said in a statement. “My sister is not a terrorist, she is an activist. To be sentenced for her activism for the very reforms that MBS and the Saudi kingdom so proudly tout is the ultimate hypocrisy,” she said, referring to the Saudi crown prince by his initials.. Mossleigh pub briefly opens before authorities move in .Global reported she has launched hunger strikes to protest her imprisonment and joined other female prisoners in telling judges she was tortured and sexually assaulted by masked men during interrogations. .Al-Hathloul rejected an offer to rescind her allegations of torture in exchange for early release, according to her family. A court recently dismissed her allegations, citing a lack of evidence..When he takes office next month, Biden has vowed to review US relations with the kingdom which, under President Donald Trump, seems to have gotten a free pass on cracking down on female activists and murdering opposition journalists..Dave Naylor is the News Editor of the Western Standard.dnaylor@westernstandardonline.com.Twitter.com/nobby7694
