The family of a prominent jailed Saudi women’s rights activist says she turned down a deal to deny being tortured and sexually assaulted in prison in exchange for her freedom

Reuters

• The family of a jailed Saudi women's rights activist says she has refused a deal which would see her deny allegations of torture at the hands of prison guards in exchange for her freedom. 
• Loujain al-Hathloul, a prominent activist in the women's right to drive movement and also an outspoken critic of Saudi Arabia's guardianship laws, was detained alongside over a dozen other women's rights activists in May 2018.
• Reports by human rights groups indicate that a number of those jailed in the crackdown, including women, were tortured and sexually abused while in prison. 
• Lina Al-Hathloul on Tuesday said that her sister had been offered a deal in exchange for her release, and was told to deny the allegations of torture that have been brought forth.  
• On Wednesday, Al-Hathloul's brother Walid said Saudi state security visited his sister in prison to ask her to sign a document which would have her testify on camera that the abuse did not occur. 
• But according to Walid, when approached by Saudi authorities to appear in a video denying the allegations, his sister "immediately ripped the document." 
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The family of a prominent Saudi women's rights activist who was arrested over a year ago during a Saudi-state sanctioned crackdown on dissidents say she has refused a deal which would see her deny allegations of torture while in custody in exchange for freedom. 

Loujain al-Hathloul, a prominent activist in the women's right to drive movement and also an outspoken critic of Saudi Arabia's guardianship laws, was detained alongside over a dozen other women's rights activists in May 2018 just as the country was preparing to lift its ban on female drivers.

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