Additional Name(s): سلمى الشهاب, Salma bint Sami bin Abdulmohsen al-Shehab

Gender: Female

Perpetrator: Saudi Arabia

Ethnic Group: Arab

Religion or Belief: Muslim – Shi'a

Reports of Torture: No

Reports of Medical Neglect: No

Appeal: Resentenced to 27 Years' Imprisonment (Originally Increased to 34 Years' Imprisonment)

Sentence: Reduced to 4 Years' Imprisonment (Originally 6 Years' Imprisonment)

Date of Detainment: January/15/2021

Date of Sentencing: January/25/2023

Date of Release: January//2025

Current Status: Released

Religious Leader: No

Most Recent Type of Abuse: Imprisonment

Reason for Persecution: Criticizing Religious Freedom Conditions Online Activity Religious Identity Resisting State-Imposed Religious Systems Women’s Rights

Nature of Charges: Aid & Abetment Spreading Propaganda & False or Misleading Ideas, Information, or Materials Terrorism

Salma al-Shehab

Extra Bio Info:

Salma al-Shehab was imprisoned for her women's rights activism opposing state-imposed religious systems as well as her religious identity.

On January 15, 2021, authorities arrested al-Shehab, a Shi'a Muslim and a PhD student at Leeds University in the United Kingdom, while she was on vacation in Saudi Arabia. Al-Shehab was targeted for her social media activity supporting women's rights and expressing solidarity with women's rights activists, like Loujain al-Hathloul, who were arrested for opposing the religiously grounded guardianship system. Al-Shehab was reportedly accused of "providing succour to those seeking to disrupt public order and undermine the safety of the general public and stability of the state, and publishing false and tendentious rumours on Twitter."

On an unspecified day in 2021, the Specialized Criminal Court (SCC) sentenced al-Shehab to six years in prison.

On or around August 9, 2022, the Specialized Criminal Court of Appeal resentenced al-Shehab to 34 years in prison, followed by a 34-year travel ban, for supporting and promoting terrorism (Art. 34 Law on Combatting Terrorism Crimes and Its Financing), aiding and abetting terrorists or a terrorist entity (Art. 38 Law on Combatting Terrorism Crimes and Its Financing), using the internet or electronic devices to conduct terrorist activities (Art. 43 Law on Combatting Terrorism Crimes and Its Financing), spreading false rumors or information with the intent to commit terrorism (Art. 44 Law on Combatting Terrorism Crimes and Its Financing), sending items that would prejudice public order (Art. 6 Law on Combatting Cyber Crimes), and other crimes.  Al-Shehab's religious identity as a Shi'a Muslim is believed to have been a factor in her arrest and harsh sentencing.

On January 18, 2023, the Supreme Court reportedly threw out al-Shehab's sentence and ordered a retrial.

On January 25, 2023, the SCC reportedly resentenced al-Shehab to 27 years in prison after dropping her prior charge under the Combatting Cyber Crimes Law.

On March 23, 2023, al-Shehab went on hunger strike in protest over her detention and trial.

In June 2023, the UN Working Group on Arbitrary Detention declared al-Shehab's detention arbitrary and called for her immediate release. 

In September 2024, the SCC scheduled a new trial hearing to revisit al-Shehab’s case.

In January 2025, Saudi judicial authorities reduced al-Shehab's sentence to four years' imprisonment, including a four-year probation through 2029 followed by an 8-year travel ban. In February 2025, Saudi authorities released al-Shehab from prison with a travel ban.

Al-Shehab had reportedly been subjected to solitary confinement and verbal abuse on the basis of her religion while in prison. She had also been denied access to a lawyer and family visits.

Al-Shehab is the mother of two small children.

Publicly Available Information:

Additional Name(s): محمد گلباز

Gender: Male

Perpetrator: Iran

Religion or Belief: Christian – Unspecified/Other

Reports of Torture: No

Reports of Medical Neglect: No

Date of Detainment: July/30/2022

Current Status: Not Released

Religious Leader: No

Most Recent Type of Abuse: Detainment

Reason for Persecution: Practicing Religion as a Convert Religious Activity Religious Belief

Nature of Charges: Unknown

Mohammad Golbaz

Extra Bio Info:

Mohammad Golbaz is detained for practicing his religion as a convert.

On July 30, 2022, authorities arrested Golbaz at his motorcycle repair shop reportedly after raiding his parents' home and confiscating a religious picture. 

Publicly Available Information:

Additional Name(s): سارا احمدی

Gender: Female

Perpetrator: Iran

Ethnic Group: Fars

Religion or Belief: Christian – Unspecified/Other

Reports of Torture: No

Reports of Medical Neglect: No

Appeal: Reduced to 8 Years' Imprisonment

Date of Detainment: August/13/2022

Date of Sentencing: December//2020

Date of Release: May//2023

Current Status: Released

Religious Leader: No

Most Recent Type of Abuse: Imprisonment

Reason for Persecution: Practicing Religion as a Convert Religious Activity

Nature of Charges: Banned Organization

Sara Ahmadi

Extra Bio Info:

Sara Ahmadi was imprisoned for practicing her religion as a convert.

In June 2019, authorities arrested Ahmadi and her husband, ​​​​​​Homayoun Zhaveh, as they were on vacation with some friends. Ahmadi wife was accused of leading a house-church, and her husband was accused of being a member of it. Ahmadi reportedly spent over a month in solitary confinement while detained. 

On an unspecified day in 2019, Ahmadi was released on bail. 

In November 2020, Ahmadi was sentenced to eight years in prison for "founding or leading an organization that aims to disrupt national security" (Art. 498 IPC) and three years for "membership in organizations that aim to disrupt national security" (Art. 499 IPC).

In December 2020, Ahmadi's sentence was reportedly reduced to eight years in prison.

In June 2021, Ahmadi was informed that the Supreme Court had rejected her appeal for retrial.

On August 13, 2022, authorities detained Ahmadi after and sent her to Evin prison, possibly to begin serving her sentence.

In May 2023, it was reported that both Ahmadi and her husband were acquitted and released from their combined ten-year prison sentence. 

Related Cases: ​​​​​​Homayoun Zhaveh

Publicly Available Information:
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