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28 March 2024

Saudi woman jailed for disobeying father freed

Published
By AFP

A Saudi woman jailed for disobeying her father has been freed after more than six months in prison, Saudi media reported on Tuesday.

Samar Badawi, who was thrown in prison without formal charge or trial by a Jeddah judge, was released on Monday on the order of the governor of the Makkah region, Prince Khalid al Faisal, the reports said.

Badawi's release came after a concerted campaign by human rights activists inside and outside Saudi Arabia for Saudi King Abdullah Bin Abdul Aziz to intervene in the case, which they said was an example of the abuses of the country's rigid guardian system for women.

Under the system, a Saudi woman must have the permission of her official "mahram" or male guardian -- her father, husband, brother or son -- for matters such as travel, work and marriage.

Badawi, a 32-year-old divorced mother, had filed her own case asking the court to remove her father as her guardian, saying he had mistreated her since childhood and had denied her permission to remarry.

Badawi had fled her father and lived in a shelter for women.

The judge instead accused her of being disobedient to her father and sent her to prison on April 4.

Prince Khaled, a member of the Saudi ruling family, recommended Badawi be released and proposed her case be sent to a reconciliation committee, according to Arab News.

Badawi was released into the oversight of a new official guardian, her uncle, according to the reports.