Hathloul, who claims to have been tortured and sexually abused in prison, is an important defender of women’s rights. His arrest in May 2018, along with several other activists, cast doubt on a series of quick measures that the Crown Prince had announced as part of a broad reform agenda.
The arrest operation took place weeks before the notorious ban on driving women was lifted. Hathloul and others who were detained with her were prominent supporters of women’s right to drive in the kingdom.
The incendiary prince, now 35, canceled many of the kingdom’s ultraconservative rules and modernized the economy. But he was also rapidly consolidating his power in the royal court and intensifying the kingdom’s crackdown on dissent.
“We really see that women’s empowerment is a lie in Saudi Arabia, that there are no real reforms,” said Lina al-Hathloul of Brussels, who was a driving force behind the international campaign for her sister’s release.
“People are still overwhelmed and even more so now … there is really an atmosphere of fear under MBS.”
Hathloul was released a few days after Saudi Arabia approved a series of judicial reform projects, which they say will institute the presumption of innocence and “raise the level of integrity and efficiency in the performance of judicial bodies”.
UN experts called the charges “spurious”. On a six-page indictment sheet for the Hathloul case, seen by CNN, a section entitled “crimes committed” includes activism against the kingdom’s restrictive male guardianship laws, along with contact with foreign journalists and diplomats.
Hathloul’s release, as well as the judicial reform bill, came less than a week after President Joe Biden’s government asked the kingdom to improve its rights record and release women’s rights activists. Marking a departure from former U.S. President Donald Trump, Biden vowed to take a firmer stance on Saudi rights abuses.
During the press conference, the Hathloul sisters thanked Biden for his help in securing Hathloul’s release.
‘We laugh a lot’
During Thursday’s press conference, Hathloul’s brothers asked people not to say that she had been “released”.
“Loujain is not free. She has been released conditionally,” said Lina al-Hathloul.
Hathloul is currently on probation and has been banned from traveling for five years. Her brothers say she will avoid posting on social media for fear of violating her probation, but will continue to pressure Saudi courts to investigate her allegations of torture.
Saudi officials have repeatedly denied allegations of torture and sexual abuse in their prisons.
“Loujain recognized him,” said Alia al-Hathloul at Thursday’s news conference.
The brothers counted the moments after Hathloul’s release from prison. “Loujain went out to buy ice cream,” said Alia al-Hathloul. “Because she loves ice cream.”
“I know we are all relieved … to go to bed yesterday and say yes, she is going to sleep in a warm bed and not a cold bed,” said Alia al-Hathloul. “She doesn’t like the cold. And the prison was cold.”
They described the calls they made to their sister as emotional and joyful. “We laughed a lot,” said Lina al-Hathloul.
“She was very calm, very strong. She was happy to speak,” said Alia al-Hathloul.
The brothers say that shortly after her arrest, Hathloul was transferred from prison to a basement in an unknown location that she dubbed the “terror palace”, where she was reportedly subjected to torture and sexual abuse. She later detailed her difficulties during her parents’ visits to the prison – the brothers then talked about their allegations.
But while she was supposed to be in the basement and during phone conversations with her brothers, she assured them that everything was fine.
After her release on Wednesday, Hathloul told them that when she spoke on the phone during that period, prison guards held an electrocution device in her ear, the sisters said. The guards threatened to activate her if she complained about the conditions of detention, according to the brothers.
Saudi officials did not immediately respond to CNN’s request to comment on allegations made at Thursday’s press conference. Saudi Arabia has not responded to recent requests for comment on allegations of torture.
The brothers say they are far from meeting with Hathloul, due to her travel ban and because they are afraid to enter the kingdom again, for fear of reprisals. “We are afraid that if we get stuck there, there will be one less voice for Loujain,” said Lina al-Hathloul.
Meanwhile, they vow to continue fighting for justice.
“Loujain entered prison as a ‘traitor and embassy agent’, while the world’s major capitals roll out the red carpet for his jailer,” tweeted Walid al-Hathloul of Toronto, hours after Hathloul’s release on Wednesday. “Loujain emerged (from prison) having received international recognition. While his jailer takes the lead in the international press for violence and illicit acts, and the red carpets are no longer being rolled out.
“Dramatic changes, glory to you, oh God.”