Saudi Arabia Sunday freed two women rights activists arrested back in 2018 after challenging the kingdom’s tight control of women including guardianship system and ban on women rights to drive.
Samar Badawi and Nassima al-Sadah, London-based right group “Prisoners of Conscience” announced have been set free, three years after their arrest.
Badawi received the United States’ International Women of Courage Award in 2012 for challenging the guardianship system, and was among the first women who signed a petition calling on the government to allow women to drive, vote and run in local elections, Middle East Monitor (MEMO) reported.
She has also been banned from traveling abroad since 2014.
Al-Sadah, from the Shia-majority Qatif province, MEMO also noted, also campaigned to abolish the guardianship system and the right to drive.
The kingdom in 2018 after the women’s campaign garnered international attention granted women rights to drive and lifted the male guardian’s permission.
Saudi Arabia sets free two women activists after three years in prison
