US Congress members nominate jailed Saudi women’s rights activist for Nobel Peace Prize

Eight members of US Congress have nominated Saudi women’s rights activist, Loujain Al- Hathloul, who has been imprisoned by authorities in Riyadh since 2018 for the Nobel Peace Prize.

The Saudi security services arrested Al-Hathloul in mid-2018, as part of a campaign against female activists and human rights defenders.

According to her family’s testimony before Congress, Loujain  was subjected to sexual harassment and was threatened with rape by the former adviser to the Saudi royal court, Saud Al-Qahtani, who also faces charges of planning the brutal assassination of Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi in October 2018.

This year’s list of candidates for the award also includes Swedish teenage climate activist, Greta Thunberg, pro-democracy campaigners in Hong Kong and the NATO military alliance.

READ: Saudi calls for arrest of Makkah female rapper 

The Nobel Institute, which does not confirm or deny the nomination of specific individuals, said on Wednesday, that it has received 317 nominations for the award this year, up from 301 in 2019.

The nominations include 210 individuals and 107 institutions.

The winner will be announced in October.

Last year, the award was given to Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed for his efforts to bring peace and end a two-decade feud with Eritrea.