Saudi journalist Hatoon al-Fassi freed provisionally

Reporters Without Borders (RSF) notes that the Saudi journalist, women’s rights activist and university professor Hatoon al-Fassi was released provisionally along with three other women’s rights activists – Amal al-Harbi, Maysaa al-Manea and Abeer Namankani – at the end of a criminal court hearing in Riyadh on 2 May.

Al-Fassi was prosecuted for being in contact with foreign media, diplomats and human rights groups. She was one of a total of 11 women who were targeted in the unprecedented wave of arrests that began a year ago in Saudi Arabia.

Three other women, including the blogger Eman al-Nafjan , were released on 28 March, after the second hearing in their trial.