TWO Saudi women detained for nearly a month in defiance of a ban on females driving have been referred to a court established to try terrorism cases, sources have claimed.

    The cases of Loujain al-Hathloul and Maysa al-Amoudi were sent to the anti-terrorism court in connection with opinions they expressed in tweets and in social media, four people close to the two women said.

    Both women have spoken out online against the female driving ban. Activists say they fear that the case is intended to send a warning to others pushing for greater rights.

    The Specialized Criminal Court, to which their cases were referred, was established in the capital, Riyadh, to try terrorism cases.

    The detention of al-Hathloul, 25, and Maysa al-Amoudi, 33 — both arrested Dec. 1 — has been the longest yet for any women who defied the driving ban. They were vocal supporters of a grass-roots campaign launched last year to oppose the ban and have a significant online following with a total 355,000 followers on Twitter for the two of them at the time of their arrest.

    Though no formal law bans women from driving in Saudi Arabia, ultraconservative Saudi clerics have issued religious edicts forbidding women from taking the wheel, and authorities do not issue them driver’s licenses. No such ban exists anywhere else in the world, even in other conservative Gulf countries.

    Al-Hathloul was stopped by border guards and her passport was confiscated for more than 24 hours when she attempted to cross the border Nov. 30 with a UAE driver’s license in an act of defiance.

    Al-Amoudi, a UAE-based Saudi journalist, was stopped when she went to deliver food and a blanket to al-Hathloul at the border, activists and relatives said. The women were formally arrested Dec. 1.

    (SD-Agencies)