updated 3:47 PM EST, Sun December 1, 2013
STORY HIGHLIGHTS
- Prominent advocates for allowing women to drive detained in Riyadh police station
- Aziza Al-Yousef, the driver, and Eman Al-Nafjan, the passenger, were released to their husbands
- Their efforts follow the October 26 campaign when dozens of Saudi women drove
- Religious interpretation -- not law-- prevents women from driving in the Kingdom
Aziza Al-Yousef, who was
driving the car, and her passenger, Eman Al-Nafjan, tell CNN they were
pulled over and spent a few hours at a police station in Riyadh until
being released into the custody of their respective husbands.
Al-Nafjan, one of Saudi
Arabia's most prominent bloggers, and one of the organizers of the
popular October 26 Women's Driving Campaign, said she decided to go for a
spin with Al-Yousef to attract more attention to her cause.
"We were looking for the
police. We drove by the police station on purpose," she explained,
adding how she welcomed the detention.
Despite repeated attempts, CNN has been unable to reach Riyadh police for comment.
Al-Nafjan, who tweets as "Saudiwoman," says she has grown tired of waiting for the Saudi government to allow women to drive.
Al-Yousef has driven
before and was glad to get behind the wheel again on Friday but says she
was not deliberately looking to be detained by the police.
"In a way it is good for
the cause because you'll the keep the issue in the mind of people," said
Al-Yousef. "However, some people might understand wrongly that we're
confronting the government and that might slow the process."
Al-Yousef was initially
concerned she and Al-Nafjan might go to jail, citing the presence of
traffic police, regular police and secret police who were called to the
scene. She says the mood of the police had lightened substantially by
the time she and Al-Nafjan reached the station.
When her husband came for her, he was asked to sign a statement pledging Al-Yousef would not drive again.
Al-Yousef says her
husband jokingly asked, "How can I do that? I can't prevent her from
driving. Only God can do that," before signing. She was then released.
The issue of women
driving is a particularly sensitive and controversial one in Saudi
Arabia, the last country on Earth where females don't have that right.
In recent years, though, more women have challenged the government,
urging officials to overturn the ban and taking to streets in remarkable
displays of civil disobedience. Although women are not allowed to drive
in the ultraconservative Kingdom, there is, in fact, no law barring
them from doing so. But religious edicts are often interpreted to
enforce the prohibition.
"We have tried all the
legal channels," explained Al-Nafjan. "The government keeps promising us
that all we have to do is be patient and quiet, and we'll eventually
get the right to drive. Officials keep saying the women driving issue is
one for Saudi society to decide. We wanted to prove that really isn't
the case and that the only people who really stop us is the police."
In May 2011, Manal
Al-Sharif was jailed for more than a week after posting a video of
herself driving in Saudi Arabia online. She quickly became a hero to
many and inspired dozens of women to drive throughout the streets of
various cities in June of that year.
More recently, in
September, a website for the October 26 Women's Driving Campaign
launched, and within a few weeks, tens of thousands had signed an online
petition calling for an end to the driving ban for women in Saudi
Arabia. As October 26 approached, numerous women filmed themselves
driving in the conservative Kingdom and uploaded those clips to sites
like YouTube.
In the weeks leading up
to October 26, one Saudi cleric gave an interview in which he warned
that Saudi women who drove risked damaging their ovaries. On October 24,
the country's Interior Ministry issued a statement telling women to
stay off the streets.
Despite strong
opposition by conservative quarters in the Kingdom, where a puritanical
strain of Islam is practiced, October 26 saw dozens of women taking to
the streets and driving. The campaign's backers insist the movement is
ongoing and has been a success thus far, while its critics say it has
failed.
Last week, Al-Yousef had
an audience with Saudi Arabia's Interior Minister, Prince Mohammed bin
Nayef, via teleconference. She conveyed a message on behalf of the
growing number of women and men calling for an end to the driving ban.
Al-Yousef was told the matter was now in the hands of Saudi King Abdullah, considered a cautious reformer.
"I think it might have
been a good thing," said Al-Yousef. "Before the government had said the
driving issue was a societal issue. But now that is not an issue
anymore. The good thing is now we know clearly that society is not the
decision maker."
Al-Yousef added: "We are
trying to find a way to reach the King now. We have a letter signed by
3,000-plus people asking for permission to allow women to drive, and we
want to find a way to get that letter to the King."
Al-Nafjan, who was
detained before for the very same offense, says she will continue
pushing the envelope, even if that gets her into legal hot water.
"I wouldn't mind if they
prosecuted me," she says. "I think it will further the cause. It's good
publicity for the cause -- to be prosecuted for being a passenger in a
car driven by a woman. You can't get more medieval."
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