Nourah bint Saeed Al-Qahtani, a mother of five children, including a disabled daughter who relies heavily on her mother’s care, was sentenced by the Specialised Criminal Court in August 2022 to 45 years in prison. She was retried in September 2024​ and subsequently resentenced to 35 years in prison followed by a 35-year travel ban. While a slight reduction on her earlier sentence, this punishment remains a travesty of justice. Her conviction was based on allegations of using Twitter accounts to criticise government policies and to call for the release of prisoners of conscience; she was also charged with possession of a banned book.

In July 2023, following a complaint submitted by NGOs, the UN Working Group on Arbitrary Detention adopted an Opinion calling for al-Qahtani’s immediate release, deeming her detention arbitrary and in violation of international human rights standards.