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Saudi women sent to terrorism court after driving cars and using social media

The women were arrested in the beginning of December.

By Thor Benson

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates, Dec. 27 (UPI) -- Two Saudi women who were arrested while attempting to drive from the United Arab Emirates to Saudi Arabia earlier this month were sent to an antiterrorism court Thursday.

The women are said to have been defying a ban on women driving, but they are not being charged with violating the ban since it's not an official law. Though there is no law against women driving, they are not allowed to get a driver's license.

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The women are being tried for sharing images and videos on social media that show their faces uncovered and them openly defying the driving ban, which allegedly violates a cybercrime law in the country.

Loujain al-Hathloul, 25, and Maysa al-Amoudi, 33, have been in prison all of December, according to the BBC.

Hala al-Dosari, a Saudi activist and writer, told the BBC sending the case to an antiterrorism court is "a continuation of the effort of the authorities to curb dissent".

"This is not an isolated case," she said. "This is just a way to really curb the momentum of campaigning and [the] engagement of citizens."

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