Detained Saudi women driving campaigners branded traitors

[DonViejo]

Source: Associated Press



By AYA BATRAWY
Today

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — Just weeks before Saudi Arabia is set to lift its ban on women driving, the kingdom’s state security said Saturday it had detained seven people who are being accused of working with “foreign entities.” Rights activists say all those detained had worked in some capacity on women’s rights issues, with five of those detained among the most prominent and outspoken women’s rights campaigners in the country.

Pro-government media outlets have splashed their photos online and in newspapers, accusing them of betrayal and of being traitors.

The women activists had persistently called for the right to drive, but stressed that this was only the first step toward full rights. For years, they also called for an end to less visible forms of discrimination, such as lifting guardianship laws that give male relatives final say on whether a woman can travel abroad, obtain a passport or marry.

Their movement was seen as part of a larger democratic and civil rights push in the kingdom, which remains an absolute monarchy where protests are illegal and where all major decision-making rests with the king and his son, Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman.

Read more: https://apnews.com/43ecc94ae4b84ea89931ab5283dec4ac?utm_source=Twitter&utm_medium=AP&utm_campaign=SocialFlow

[dembotoz]

1. trump has such wonderful friends

[christx30]

2. The US has been friends with the Saudi kingdom

for 40+ years. Trump isn't the first president to embrace them. As long as the oil keeps flowing, the US government doesn't give a crap what happens to women there.