Liz Truss criticised for leaving case of UK student jailed in Saudi Arabia to officials
Ministers have not been touch with Saudi counterparts over Leeds student sentenced to 34 years for Twitter posts, government confirms
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Your support makes all the difference.Foreign secretary Liz Truss has been criticised for leaving the case of a UK student jailed in Saudi Arabia for more than three decades using Twitter to her officials.
The Tory leadership frontrunner had been urged to intervene over the case Salma al-Shehab, a 34-year-Leeds University student arrested on a visit to see family at the start of last year.
Labour MP Hillary Benn wrote to Truss calling on her to take up in Ms al-Shehabās case after her sentence of six years was increased to 34 years this week following an appeal.
But a No 10 spokesperson said on Monday that the UK studentās case had been raised āat official level at the embassyā ā but no ministers have been in touch with Saudi counterparts.
Benn said that it was time for Truss ā favourite to win the Tory leadership contest ā to speak to the Saudi foreign minister about al-Shehabās lengthy imprisonment.
āAs foreign secretary Liz Truss has talked about building a ānetwork of libertyā around the world,ā he told The Independent.
Benn said: āI very much hope therefore that she will speak to her opposite number in Saudi Arabia in order to try and secure Salma al-Shehabās liberty.ā
The former Labour cabinet minister added: āNo-one should be sent to prison for 34 years for simply expressing their opinions.ā
Benn said the sentence was āabsolutely shocking sentenceā, arguing that it was completely at odds with Saudi Arabiaās claim to be improving human rights.
Leeds University said Ms al-Shehab was a student in the final year of doctoral studies at the medical school, and it was ādeeply concernedā to hear about her sentencing.
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Saudi authorities accused Ms al-Shehab of ādisturbing public orderā and ādestabilising the social fabricā ā claims stemming from her social media activity, according to an official charge sheet.
The authorities alleged Ms al-Shehab followed and retweeted dissident accounts on Twitter and ātransmitted false rumoursā.
A special court for terrorism and national security crimes handed down the unusually harsh 34-year sentence, which is to be followed by a 34-year travel ban.
It was reported to be the longest-known sentence to be given to a womenās rights activist in Saudi Arabia.
The Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO) has been approached for comment.
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