Qatari cheque for his sister is fake: Saudi activist’s brother

Doha: Some Saudis published on Twitter a fake cheque issued by a Qatari bank to the arrested women activist Loujain al-Hathloul, which led Walid al-Hathloul, brother of the detained Saudi woman, to issue a denial.

He tweeted a statement saying that the cheque is fake and warned people, who posted the fake photo, that they are putting themselves under legal liability after publishing the forged bank cheque of QR 9 million.
"Advice everyone, who accused Loujain that she received millions from Qatar and that she is recruited, to delete your tweet now," Walid tweeted.

Walid was surprised that the electronic flies in Saudi Arabia would stoop so low and go to the extent of forging a cheque and dragging the name of Qatar in Loujain’s case, which has garnered a lot of international attention ratcheting up scrutiny of Saudi's human rights record.

Many Twitter users were seen calling out the fake tweet by the Saudi users and rightly pointed out that the cheque is forged. 

"The cheque is forged and the logo is also forged," said Raed Mas'ad in a reply.

Earlier, Alia al-Hathloul explained that the Saudi authorities were obstructing the release of her sister Loujain, who has been detained since 2017, by delaying her trial.

"No one in prison told her trial, which was scheduled for April 17, was cancelled," said Alia al-Hathloul.

In a write-up about Loujain, one of Time magazine’s 100 most influential people of 2019, the magazine said the "Saudi people owe a huge debt of gratitude to" her for her activism. 

"She was among the first to challenge laws that are out of touch with Saudi Arabia’s young majority population, boldly posting videos of herself driving, running for the country’s first municipal elections to allow women in 2015, and signing the 14,000-strong petition urging an end to restrictions on women’s rights to marry or travel outside the country without a male guardian’s permission," wrote Sarah Leah Whitson, Human Rights Watch’s regional director.

"Unfortunately activism also revealed the crown prince’s intolerance for civil society," she added.