"A Saudi Arabian woman — at the center of a social media campaign protesting a ban against female drivers — has been re-arrested after posting a video on the Internet of herself driving.
Manal al-Sherif, a 32-year-old woman who launched an Internet campaign against the Saudi ban on female drivers, posted a video clip (below) of herself driving through the city of Khobar last week. On Saturday, religious police arrested al-Sherif, an information technology expert at oil firm Saudi Aramco.
As the Associated Press reports, she was released after signing a pledge to no longer drive. But authorities seized al-Sherif again at dawn on Sunday. She was accused of “violating public order” and is currently being held for five days as authorities investigate the case. Her brother, Mohammed al-Sherif — who was in the car as she drove — has also been detained.....
No written law prevents women from driving in the country. However, religious rulings enforced by the police have been interpreted as a ban that keeps women — including foreign ones — from driving in Saudi Arabia. As a result, families hire live-in drivers, and those who can’t afford them rely on male relatives to drive them everywhere, including work and school.
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