Saudis step up arrests of women's rights advocates, campaigners say

The arrested activists have been accused of being "traitors", forming a "cell", and making “contact with foreign entities with the aim of undermining the country’s stability and social fabric”.

Ukrainian female rights group Femen protest in front of the Saudi Arabian embassy against a ban on driving cars for women in Kiev, Ukraine, Thursday, June 16, 2 Source: AP Photo/Sergei Chuzavkov

Saudi authorities have widened a crackdown on women's rights advocates, detaining at least three more activists a month before the kingdom lifts its decades-old ban on women drivers, campaigners said Tuesday.

Saudi authorities on Saturday announced the arrest of seven people, mostly identified by rights groups as women who have long campaigned for the right to drive and to end the conservative Muslim state's male guardianship system.

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