Gulf | Saudi Arabia
Five women detained for driving in Jeddah
Activist claims their whereabouts are unknown
- By Jumana Al Tamimi, Associate Editor
- Published: 00:00 June 30, 2011
Dubai: Five women have been detained in Saudi Arabia for defying the country's driving ban, an activist said on Wednesday.
"All the cases were in Jeddah and we were really surprised to hear this because this was not the case before," Saudi activist Eman Al Nafjian said.
Four women were arrested at around 10am on Tuesday in Dorat Al Aroos area in Jeddah by members of the Committee for the Promotion of Virtue and the Prevention of Vice.
By evening, a fifth woman was driving in downtown Jeddah when she was arrested by the Saudi police, who confiscated her car.
What happened to the five women after their arrests is still unclear as their whereabouts are unknown, but Eman believes they were probably released.
"The biggest possibility is that they were released, but there is no confirmation of whether they have been released or are still being held," Eman told Gulf News.
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Saudi authorities have appeared to allow driving this month by dozens of women who answered a call from groups, including Women2Drive and Women's Right to Drive in KSA, to challenge the ban.
Although there is no written law against women driving in Saudi Arabia, they are not issued licences, effectively banning the practice.
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