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The
11 women on trial had campaigned for the right to drive and an
end to the kingdom's male guardianship system. Their case has
intensified criticism of Riyadh's rights record, already in the
spotlight after last year's murder of journalist Jamal Khashoggi.
The U.S. nationals are journalist Salah al-Haidar, whose mother
Aziza al-Yousef is among those on trial, and Bader al-Ibrahim, a
doctor and author of a book about Shi'ite Muslim politics, the
associate and London-based Saudi rights group ALQST said.
Those newly detained, seven men and one woman, are not frontline
activists but have expressed support of women's rights and other
reforms. They were detained late on Wednesday and Thursday,
according to ALQST and the associate, who spoke on condition of
anonymity.
Five other people close to the women have also been placed under
a travel ban since February, they added.
The Saudi government communications office and the U.S. Embassy
in Riyadh did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
A Riyadh court last week temporarily released three of the women
on trial, including Yousef, raising hopes of a more lenient
handling after months of lobbying by Western governments.
But the new arrests could signal that the authorities will
resist international pressure and pursue harsh sentences.
Khashoggi's murder tarnished the reputation of Crown Prince
Mohammed bin Salman, who courted Western support for his efforts
to modernise Saudi Arabia. The CIA and some Western countries
believe he ordered the killing, which Saudi officials deny.
Dozens of other activists, intellectuals and clerics have been
arrested separately in the past two years in an apparent bid to
stamp out opposition.
TORTURE ALLEGATIONS
The women on trial were arrested last May and branded as
traitors. At least one of them has been charged under the
kingdom's cybercrime law and faces up to five years in prison.
Five men arrested at the same time are not on trial. Rights
groups say two of them have been released, but the others'
status is unclear.
Another U.S.-Saudi national, Walid al-Fitaihi, has been detained
since 2017 under Riyadh's anti-corruption campaign. His son told
U.S. senators last month he had been tortured in detention,
including electric shocks and whipping.
Some of the women activists have also alleged torture and sexual
assault, which the authorities deny.
The siblings of one woman, Loujain al-Hathloul, who have
publicised her case in U.S. media, say men describing themselves
as "close to the state" had asked his parents to stop them from
speaking out.
"We stayed silent for eight months. We thought that being silent
would solve the issue," Walid al-Hathloul told CNN on Thursday.
"We found out at the end of the day that this made the case even
worse and that's why we're speaking out now. At the end of the
day we didn't have any options but to speak out."
(Reporting By Dubai newsroom; Editing by Raissa Kasolowsky)
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