Saudi Arabia Hosting the 2034 World Cup Is a Disgraceful Injustice

Eleven years from now, the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia is set to host the 2034 men’s FIFA World Cup. If that sounds like a long way off, just imagine how extensive that time will seem to the innocent Saudi Arabians currently imprisoned for their words, and who will likely remain behind bars well after a winner has been crowned.

Consider the case of Salma al-Shehab, a mother and Leeds University student who was sentenced to over three decades in prison for using social media to “cause public unrest and destabilize civil and national security.” She had retweeted posts calling for the release of political prisoners, including women’s rights activists. Shortly after her sentencing, another Saudi woman, Nourah bint Saeed al-Qahtani, was given 45 years for “using the internet to tear [Saudi Arabia’s] social fabric.”

Even after prison sentences end, the punishment can continue in the form of travel bans meant to trap dissidents inside the country and separate them from their loved ones. Activist and blogger Raif Badawi, for example, suffered a ten-year prison term and a public flogging in Saudi Arabia for “insulting Islam” in his advocacy for secularism and free expression. Now out of prison, he faces an equally lengthy travel ban that puts thousands of miles between him and his wife and three children, who fled to Canada years ago.

Read more at The Daily Beast.