Additional Name(s): مناهل العتيبي
Gender: Female
Current Location: al-Malaz Prison
Perpetrator: Saudi Arabia
Religion or Belief: Unspecified
Health Concerns: Broken leg
Reports of Torture: Yes
Reports of Medical Neglect: Yes
Sentence: 11 Years' Imprisonment
Date of Detainment: November//2022
Date of Sentencing: January//2024
Current Status: Not Released
Religious Leader: No
Most Recent Type of Abuse: Imprisonment
Reason for Persecution: Criticizing Religious Freedom Conditions Online Activity Religious Appearance Resisting State-Imposed Religious Systems Women’s Rights
Nature of Charges: Immorality Terrorism
Manahel al-Otaibi is imprisoned for her women's rights activism critical of state imposed religious systems.
In November 2022, authorities arrested al-Otaibi, an online fitness influencer, for reportedly not wearing "decent" clothing and for promoting female empowerment on her social media, which included calls for an end to male guardianship rules.
In January 2023, al-Otaibi appeared in front of judges who referred her case to the Specialized Criminal Court (SCC).
On July 26, 2023, the SCC postponed al-Otaibi's hearing without scheduling a new date.
In December 2023, human rights organizations reported that al-Otaibi has been forcibly disappeared for over a month.
In April 2024, five months after Saudi authorities forcibly disappeared al-Otaibi, she contacted her family for the first time and told them she was being held in solitary confinement in al-Malaz Prison with a broken leg after being brutally beaten in detention, and without access to medical care.
Soon after, also in April 2024, it was reported that al-Otaibi was sentenced to 11 years in January 2024 on multiple charges under Saudi Arabia's social media, counter terror, and male guardianship laws. The charges include calling on social media for an end to the country's male guardianship system, posting videos of herself wearing “indecent clothes”, “going to the shops without wearing an abaya” (a traditional dress), using digital technology "used in terrorist crimes," and broadcasting "false or malicious rumors, or the like for committing a terrorist crime."
In September 2024, it was reported that al-Otaibi was able to contact her family after not being able to for at least one month. She alleged that Saudi authorities continue to subject her to abuse while in detention.
Photo used with permission from ALQST
"Saudi Arabia: Woman jailed for 11 years for online expression supporting women’s rights" ALQST
ALQST for Human Rights, Tweet, April 22, 2024
"Saudi Arabia: Further Information: Manahel al-Otaibi Beaten in Detention" Amnesty International
MENA Rights Group | MENA Human Rights, Tweet, December 15, 2023
ALQST for Human Rights, Tweet, July 27, 2023
USCIRF Commissioners David Curry and Stephen Schneck, Tweet, July 25, 2023
"Saudi fitness instructor Manahel al-Otaibi latest targeted in crackdown on dissent in kingdom" Associated Press (AP)
"من دون عباءة" واتهامات أخرى.. السعودية مناهل العتيبي تواجه "مصيرا مجهولا" Alhurra
"Saudi Arabian woman arrested over Twitter and Snapchat posts promoting reform" The Guardian
ALQST for Human Rights, Tweet, May 30, 2023