A
few Saudi women braved official threats of punishment and got behind
the wheel Saturday in defiance of a ban on driving, but organisers say
their campaign will continue.
Undeterred by the warnings of
unspecified sanctions, and increased security in Riyadh, several women
posted videos of themselves driving on Saturday.
At least four videos were posted on
YouTube, including from the capital, and rights activist Naseema Assada
said three others had driven in Eastern Province to show women’s
“determination.”
The ministry spokesman General Mansur al-Turki told AFP:
“It is known that women in Saudi are banned from driving and laws will
be applied against violators and those who demonstrate in support” of
this cause.
AFP reported that activists had
originally issued a call on social media networks for women across the
ultra-conservative Muslim kingdom to drive their cars on Saturday to
challenge the ban.
“Had there not been a threat from the
interior ministry, more women would have responded,” said Assada, who
did not herself drive so that “authorities would not consider the move a
challenge” to the ministry orders.
More women are expected behind the wheel
in the coming days if authorities take no measures against those who
defied the ban on Saturday, activists say.
An AFP photographer reported that police patrols and checkpoints were deployed across several parts of Riyadh.
One of the videos shows a woman cloaked
in black and wearing dark sunglasses, identified as May al-Sawyan,
driving somewhere in the capital, apparently without being stopped.
She could be seen in what appeared to be
the parking lot of a shopping mall, before driving onto a main road
with little traffic.
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