By Maliyah Ledesma, age 9
Loujain al-Hathloul, a 31-year-old women’s rights activist in Saudi Arabia, was released from prison in February after being accused of trying to change the political system.
In 2018, when al-Hathloul was arrested, women were not allowed to drive in her country. Al-Hathoul had posted a video that went viral of her driving a car, with her dad on the passenger side.
Al-Hathloul was sentenced to six years in prison but was released after three years. She was possibly released early because President Biden had begun to pressure the government of Saudi Arabia to release prisoners like al-Hathloul. Although al-Hathloul is out of prison, she still is not technically free, as she faces restrictions on her movement. Al-Hathloul is not allowed to travel outside of Saudi Arabia for five years, and the government will likely be keeping track of her.
