Saudi women on trial after contact with foreign media: HRW

BEIRUT: Saudi women held in detention for nearly a year have been charged following contact with foreign media and activists, Human Rights Watch said Thursday. The trial of at least 10 women opened in Riyadh´s criminal court last week after they were detained in 2018 as part of a sweeping crackdown on activists, legal authorities said, without specifying the charges. HRW and Amnesty International put the number of women facing trial at 11. Some of them have allegedly faced torture and sexual harassment during interrogation in detention. Citing sources who reviewed the charge sheets, HRW said the women were indicted after establishing contact with fully accredited international journalists based in the kingdom as well as foreign diplomats and international human rights organisations.