New York-based feminist famously jailed in Saudi three years ago for not wearing headscarf reveals her husband has disappeared in the kingdom after being arrested 'by men in plain clothes'
- Saudi feminist Malak al-Shehri, 35, wants to know why husband Ayman al-Drees, 31, was arrested in Saudi Arabia on April 4
- She famously once walked the streets of the capital without an abaya or hijab in 2016 - which is against the law in the conservative Muslim country
- Her husband, who she has not heard from since his arrest, was supportive of women's rights and returned to KSA from US in 2017
- Al-Shehri moved back to US - where she studied - in 2018 but al-Drees stayed
- She said at time of his arrest he said he wished he'd listened to her plea to leave
- Al-Shehri recalled cops stopping because she wasn't wearing a hijab but he told them 'well, I'm not her boss'
- In Saudi every woman has a 'guardian' to make decisions on their behalf
- His arrest came after Saudi dissident journalist Jamal Khashoggi was killed in KSA consulate in Istanbul for criticizing Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman
A New York woman who was famously arrested in 2016 after walking through the streets of Riyadh without covering her hair says her husband has now been mysteriously detained.
Malak al-Shehri, 35, who works as a waitress in Manhattan, says her husband Ayman al-Drees, 31, was followed by an unmarked car as he traveled to his family's date farm before being arrested by authorities who were not in uniform in the eastern part of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia on April 4.
She wrote on Twitter from Los Angeles at the time that the 'translator, an activist, and the love of my life was arrested today alongside other Saudi activists and intellectuals'.
Saudi feminist Malak al-Shehri, 35, wants to know why husband Ayman al-Drees, 31, was arrested in Saudi Arabia on April 4
She famously walked on the streets of the capital without an abaya or hijab in 2016 when women were not allowed to do so before
His worried wife told NBC News she has spoken to him at the time of his arrest and while he remained positive that everything would be resolved eventually, he said he wished he had listened to her when she encouraged him to flee the Middle Eastern country last year.
On April 6 she posted: 'Until now there is no way to contact him or to know where he is or to know what are the charges behind his arrest.'
Al-Drees – who studied at Ohio's Bowling Green State University – is not a frontline activist but reached out to Al-Shehri after she tweeted an image of herself without a hijab on her head or abaya over her clothing three years ago.
Al-Shehri – originally from Saudi - married the man who she told NBC News 'loves strong women' in April 2017 after he flew to KSA to make it official.
Human rights advocates believe he's one of 14 detained last week who are simply connected to detained activists or deemed supportive of women's rights.
Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said he has questioned KSA officials about the detainment as well as two dual US-Saudi citizens also detained last month.
'We’ve urged them to make a better decision, saying that those folks need to be released,' Pompeo said April 10. 'It’s inconsistent with the relationship between our two countries. We don’t think it’s in the Saudis’ best interest to do this either.'
Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, picture left with President Trump right, only relaxed rules for women in the country in 2018. Now dress code has changed and females can drive
Al-Shehri met her husband after he reached out following her modest dress protest in 2016
Al-Shehri moved back to the US in 2018 but al-Drees stayed in the Kingdom. She said at the time of his arrest he told her he wished he'd listened to her plea to go back to the US
It came six months after the killing of Saudi dissident Jamal Khashoggi in the KSA embassy in Istanbul.
Al-Shehri has been posting on social media in hope drawing attention to the arrest will get enough attention to help her find out more.
'Every tweet I write, I am scared it will affect him,' she told NBC News.
Al-Shehri moved back to the US where she too had previously studied after several female activists - and men who had supported their protests for the right to drive - were arrested in KSA in May 2018.
Even though it was just weeks before the ban on women driving was lifted, they were accused of undermining the country's 'security, stability and national unity' before they ultimately agreed to rule in their favor.
Loujain al-Hathloul, Rokaya Mohareb, Aziza al-Yousef and Eman al-Nafjan, and others were only released in March this year.
His wife said about his passion for women's rights: 'Ayman had the utmost respect for women's autonomy, and he'd enforce that in interactions with others who treated him as my "guardian"'
She posted on Twitter alongside snaps of her husband: 'I hope these awful times will pass'
She said he 'used his passion for translation to educate and uplift his community'
Saudi denied claims from an Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch investigation that some were sexually assaulted and tortured while in custody.
The Associated Press reported some testified they were subjected to electrocution, caning and waterboarding by masked male interrogators and 'made to break their fast during the Muslim holy month of Ramadan, and threatened with rape and death'.
Al-Shehri is scared of what could be happening to her insurance underwriter husband.
She posted on Twitter: 'Ayman always feared for me. I was the reckless one, he feared that this might get me in trouble. He's a loving gentle human being. He has a passion for reading. He never tried to change me, and he always tried to learn about feminism from me and my experiences.
'Ayman had the utmost respect for women's autonomy, and he'd enforce that in his interactions with other men who treated him as my "guardian". This one time a policeman stopped us because I wasn't wearing a hijab, & Ayman just told him, "well, I'm not her boss".'
Women in Saudi live under the guardianship of their husband or a male relative who give permission to travel or do things such as have medical procedures done.
Al-Shehri's social media posts show supportive messages from al-Drees' friends and associates expressing shock
Al-Shehri's 2016 picture protest and subsequent social media messages encouraging others to break the rules, led to her being jailed for five days and now Al-Shehri thinks her spouse is being punished for her actions.
Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman historically relaxed rules for women in the Kingdom last year, including modest dress, admittance to sports stadiums with males and perhaps most famously, lifting the ban on women driving.
However some have claimed the Saudi royal's progressive stance in public is a front for his strict punishment of people from the country who dare to criticize it.
She posted alongside snaps of the couple: 'I hope these awful times will pass. I still hope that it's not as a bad as it looks, that it's just a misunderstanding, that they'll see Ayman for who he really is: someone who used his passion for translation to educate and uplift his community.'
Al-Shehri's social media posts show supportive messages from al-Drees' friends and associates expressing shock.
Lee Nickoson, chair of the Department of English at Bowling Green State University, told Sentinel Tribune about the 2018 alumnus: 'We feel a commitment to the student beyond graduation, and care for the student beyond graduation.
'So to hear about someone who is impacting the world around him in positive ways and advocating for social change for putting himself at risk — that’s everything that we imagine or hope for our students, that they can engage the world around them, and when they see injustices or inequities give voice to efforts to bring about positive change.
'That’s what we see at work here, in a very high stakes, I can’t think of a higher stakes, manner.'
It comes six months after the killing of Saudi dissident Jamal Khashoggi in the KSA embassy in Istanbul which man called for President Trump to sanction the country for
