The woman who was arrested in Saudi Arabia for openly challenging the kingdom’s social norms is a Saudi national in her 30s, a spokesperson for the police in the capital Riyadh said.

The woman, who was not named, had posted on her Twitter account that she was planning to go to Al Tahlia Street in Riyadh without an abaya, the black coverall traditionally worn by women in Saudi Arabia, in order to smoke and meet a male friend.

The following day, she posted on Twitter a picture of herself wearing a black jacket and a multi-coloured dress and no headscarf or an abaya. Neither the male friend nor the cigarette could be seen in the picture.

However, the woman’s challenge and daring act did not go well among several social media users who piled pressure on the authorities to take action against her.

They claimed that her announcement of her plans on Twitter and her decision to see them through and then posting a picture of her “exploit” despite her awareness of the social norms could not be tolerated.

Following days of pressure on social media, police moved to arrest the woman.

“We have monitored a tweet by a woman who took off her hijab and had her picture taken in front of a popular coffee shop in the capital Riyadh, and who openly announced that she had an illegitimate relationship with a man,” the police spokesperson said. “An investigation was launched and the woman was identified and arrested. She is being held in a women’s prison and will be referred to the relevant authorities for further investigations after she broke the rules of the country.”

Awadh Al Qarni, a famous Saudi religious scholar, said that he considered the woman as a victim more than as an offender although he insisted that those who openly broke the law should be held legally accountable.

“Such people are victims, not criminals. There are a huge number of pornographic novels and numerous liberal and atheistic writings, columns, websites and media accounts, and young people are the victims. The criticism should be geared towards families, society, schools and the media for not carrying out their responsibilities in the right way,” he said.

The scholars said that people needed to appreciate that Saudi Arabia, because of its unique religious status as the home of Islam’s two holiest sites, has a different set of cultural and social norms that ought to be respected. 

source: GULF NEWS