Jamal’s admiration for her friend’s activism only intensified after al-Hathloul graduated in 2014 and returned to her native Saudi Arabia. The following year, al-Hathloul was among the first women in Saudi Arabia to run in municipal elections. Since spring of 2018, al-Hathloul, 29, has been held in detention along with several other women’s rights activists with no end in sight. “We are concerned by the detention of women rights activists, including Loujain al-Hathloul,” the statement said. You can’t say you’re a feminist and stand up for human rights and still sell arms to a country like Saudi Arabia,” Laverdiere said.

Source: National Post March 26, 2019 15:56 UTC