Recall that Salma al-Shehab, a Saudi PhD candidate at Leeds University, was sentenced to 34 years in prison earlier in August.
A Saudi Arabian woman, Nourah bint Saeed al-Qahtani, has been given a 45-year prison sentence for her social media posts, in the second similar instance this month.
The BBC reports that according to the rights advocate group, Dawn, Nourah was found guilty of "violating public order by using social media" and "using the internet to shred the social fabric."
Other than the fact that she is a renowned critic of Saudi government, little is known about her.
Recall that Salma al-Shehab, a Saudi PhD candidate at Leeds University, was sentenced to 34 years in prison earlier in August.
She was detained while traveling in Saudi Arabia in January 2021 and later found guilty of "posting false and tendentious rumors" and "offering succor to individuals aiming to undermine public order."
The 34-year-old mother of two had demanded reforms and the release of well-known activists and intellectuals detained as part of a campaign against dissent led by Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman before she left England.
Shehab's prison term was believed to be the longest ever handed to a peaceful activist in the country until Qahtani's was reported.
According to Abdullah Alaoudh, director of research for the Gulf region at Dawn, the US-based organization first learned about Qahtani's case only after receiving court documents from a judicial source. He added that the group was still conducting its investigation.
He said, "Nothing in her court documents pertains to any violence or criminal activity.
"The charges against her are really broad. They are using the counter-terrorism law and the anti-cybercrime law... that can criminalise any posting that is even remotely critical of the government."
Several other female activists have reportedly been detained in relation to social media posts since last year. Mr Alaoudh said he feared that they could also be handed lengthy prison sentences.
"The Saudi government is sending a strong signal to the West that it does not care about human rights."
Alaoudh warned that it was "impossible not to connect the dots" between US President Joe Biden's controversial meeting with Crown Prince Mohammed in Jeddah last month and "the uptick in the repressive attacks.”
Biden had previously vowed to make Saudi Arabia a "pariah" over its human rights record.
ALQST, a UK-based rights group, also expressed grave concern about Qahtani's sentence, which it said was "based on [her] tweets".
"As feared, we are witnessing an alarming deterioration of the human rights situation in Saudi Arabia," it added.
The Saudi Prisoners of Conscience account also tweeted that it had confirmation of the sentence, but there was no immediate comment from Saudi authorities.