A woman in Arabia sentenced to 45 years in prison for posts on social networks

Nourah al-Qathtan was sentenced for “using the internet to break up the social structure” and “violation of public order” in Saudi Arabia.

This was announced by the NGO Human Rights Democracy for the Arab World Now, a Washington-based group founded by slain journalist Khashoggi, which shared a copy of the court's document.

Saudi laws have been designed to give authorities the maximum discretion, including the power to ban individuals for vaguely defined laws against terrorism, such as “Public Order concern” and “risking national unity”.

Qahtan did not seem to have had a Twitter account in her name. Other Saudis believed to have used nicknames to post satirical or critical content on Twitter have faced arrest and condemnation.

Twitter has not commented publicly on Shehabi's case.

The US State Department said on Monday it set up key “concerns” with Saudi authorities in the Wahhabi case.

“We have told them that freedom of expression is a universal human right for which all people are entitled and the exercise of these universal rights should never be criminalised,” said a spokesman, Ned Price.

Price said the State Department was following the case “from near” and that the US had conducted several conversations with Saudi counterparts in recent days.

But the Saudi government has given no comment.