Saudi Activist Who Fought for Women’s Right to Drive Is Sentenced to Prison Loujain al-Hathloul, who was arrested just before the driving ban was lifted, was charged with undermining the kingdom in a case that supporters decried as a political persecution. Dec. 28, 2020 CAIRO — One of Saudi Arabia’s best-known prisoners, the women’s rights activist Loujain al-Hathloul, was sentenced on Monday to five years and eight months in prison, capping a two-and-a-half-year legal ordeal that rights groups and her supporters called punishment for her political advocacy. Ms. al-Hathloul was first arrested in May 2018 along with others who had pushed to end a ban on women driving. She was later charged with undermining the kingdom and its political system by communicating with foreign diplomats, journalists and rights organizations and pushing for women’s rights.