Saudi arrests of female activists come amid prince's wider crackdown

Saudi Arabia's powerful crown prince, Mohammed bin Salman, has won international plaudits for his program to transform the reclusive and deeply conservative kingdom.

o the recent arrests of a handful of women’s rights activists, ranging in age from their 20s to their 70s, were met with widespread surprise and condemnation.

But while the latest detentions have drawn criticism, they come amid a much wider crackdown on those who have called for changes in the absolute monarchy or fail to publicly support the prince.

While engaging in an international charm offensive to publicize his sweeping plans to transform Saudi society and economy, the 32-year-old prince has also presided over waves of detentions — of intellectuals and clerics, officials and billionaire businessmen accused of corruption, and now the women’s rights activists.

"We have seen through the crackdown on activists, writers and social media users that the Saudi Arabian authorities have no tolerance for dissent, peaceful calls for reform, or anyone who



dares to speak out against the country’s domestic or foreign policy," said Dana Ahmed, Amnesty International's campaigner for Saudi Arabia.

Even so, the timing of the latest moves — just weeks before the much-vaunted lifting of a ban on women driving — as well as the harshness of an accompanying media campaign, surprised seasoned Saudi observers.

“What I find particularly galling is the emergence in the Saudi press of claims these guys were traitors,” said Michael Stephens, a Middle East expert at the Royal United Services Institute, a think tank in London. “I just don’t know why they thought this was OK.”

The announcement of the activists' arrests last week was accompanied by reports in state-linked media that those being held had offered financial support to "overseas enemies” and had suspicious contacts with foreign entities. A hashtag dubbing them "agents of embassies" with the word "traitor" stamped on their faces also began circulating on social media.

This was a marked contrast to previous mass arrests.