'We demand UTMOST PUNISHMENT' Saudi police arrest woman for removing her hijab
SAUDI police have arrested a woman for going out in public without her abaya – an over-garment which females are required to wear in the Sunni Kingdom.
Twitter image believed to be Malak Al Shehri
The arrested woman is believed to be Malak Al Shehri, who posted an image, understood to be her, of a woman in the capital Riyadh without wearing the legally required dress regulations.
The strictly conservative Muslim country places severe limitations on women in public, enforces strict regulations, prohibits the mixing of the sexes and is the only country in the world that band women from driving.
The woman was arrested by the country’s religious police after a complaint was filed, according to the al-Sharq newspaper.
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Saudi Arabia's Foreign Minister Adel al-Jubeir (L) is greeted by Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson
A Riyadh spokesman said: "Police officers have detained a girl who had removed her abaya on al-Tahliya street, implementing a challenge she announced on social media several days ago."
The image sparked outrage on Twitter, with one user writing: "She has been arrested and we demand utmost punishment, for the state has rules that she did not respect.”
However the woman has also received a large amount of support, with backers using the hashtag #FreeMalakAlShehri.
While another added: “What’s her crime… just because of piece of hijab…?!”
A third wrote: “It’s 21st century, yet I still can’t choose what I want to wear. We don’t own our bodies, nor our lives.”
Others, like ‘Jamelah’ called for her release: “Free her Now she is not offender.”One user wrote: “I don’t see how this is okay how can you arrest someone for just dressing differently?”
The Saudi woman believed to be Malak Al Shehri
The original posting of the image earlier this month was made under the account name ‘Malak Al Shehri’ although now the account has been deleted.
An anonymous student claimed Ms Al Shehri had said that she was going to go out for breakfast without either a hijab or abaya, a traditional Saudi body-covering garment.
The student also claimed the woman had received death threats for merely posting the image.
Saudi Minister of Foreign Affairs Adel al-Jubeir (R) and Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson
The student said: “So many people retweeted it and what she did reached extremists, so she got threats.
“She deleted her tweets but they didn’t stop, so she deleted her account.”
The arrest comes after Boris Johnson criticised the hardline regime of “puppeteering” and using proxies to fight its battles in the Middle East as well as “twisting” Islam.
However during a recent joint press conference between Mr Johnson and his counterpart Adel al-Jubeir, Mr Johnson only spoke in general terms and expressed “deep concern” for the situation in the Yemen, where a Saudi-led coalition has been accused of numerous human rights abuses.