Jeddah, May 24 (AFP) Saudi Arabia should "immediately" release a woman jailed for breaking the kingdom's ban on women driving, Human Rights Watch said in a statement that also criticised the ban itself.
"King Abdullah should immediately order the release of Manal al-Sharif, who was arrested ... after she defied the kingdom's de facto ban on driving by women," New York-based HRW said in a statement today, referring to the Saudi monarch.
"Arresting a woman who drove her family around in a car and then showed it online opens Saudi Arabia to condemnation -- and, in fact, to mockery -- around the world," HRW senior Middle East researcher Christoph Wilcke said in the statement.
"King Abdullah should end Saudi Arabia's pariah status in the world as the sole country banning women from driving," Wilcke said.