A US court has ruled that an American activist who fled Saudi Arabia with her daughter in 2019 will be allowed to defy a Saudi custody order and remain in the country with her child because she would face a serious risk of being put to death if she returned to the kingdom.
The case represents the first time that Saudi rules governing child custody and its use of the death penalty against female activists have faced judgment in a US court.
Washington state’s appeals court found there was “ample evidence” to support a lower court’s conclusion that Bethany Alhaidari, whose daughter Zaina is an American citizen, would face a death sentence were she to return to Saudi Arabia because of her religious and political beliefs.
“A Washington court need not enforce a decree of another nation’s child custody decree and may exercise jurisdiction over custody if the law of the foreign country punishes ‘apostasy’ by death,” the judges wrote.
They also found that a custody agreement Bethany Alhaidari had signed while living in Saudi Arabia had been agreed under duress.
The ruling by the Washington state court of appeals marks the likely end of a long and bitter custody fight between Bethany Alhaidari and her Saudi ex-husband Ghassan Abdulrahman Alhaidari. In court records, Bethany claimed to have been verbally and physically abused by her then husband – who denied the allegations – and said she had been stripped of her rights to her daughter following the couple’s divorce.
During their custody fight, Ghassan posted photos of Bethany in a bikini practicing yoga, leading her to be investigated for public indecency and disrupting public order. He also accused her of adultery because she had a male friend and accused her of insulting Islam, a crime that carries the death penalty inside the kingdom.
As her legal guardian, Bethany would have needed her ex-husband’s permission to leave Saudi Arabia with her daughter.
Alhaidari devised a plan to get out of Saudi Arabia, which involved apologizing to her ex-husband and pretending to be in love with him again.
The fake relationship, she told the Guardian, lasted for months until she could regain his trust and obtain his permission to leave the kingdom with her daughter for a trip back home to the US.
Once she arrived, Alhaidari filed for emergency jurisdiction in Washington state. Because the US enforces foreign custody orders – with exceptions being made if there are egregious human rights issues in the custody cases – it fell to US courts to determine whether Alhaidari and her daughter could stay. In the meantime, Alhaidari became an outspoken activist on behalf of individuals who are in prison in Saudi Arabia.
Alhaidari also lobbied for a change in Washington state law which would allow the state’s custody courts to defy foreign countries’ jurisdiction when that nation’s law prohibits “apostasy” – the renunciation of prior religious beliefs – and punishes such “crimes” with death.
The amended custody law was ultimately cited by the appeals court in its ruling.
Alhaidari said she felt “overwhelming relief” in the wake of Tuesday’s decision.
“I have a lot of gratitude for everyone who helped. The legislators, my legal team, but also those in Saudi who helped us in the process of getting out,” she said.
“I am kind of in shock. This has been going on for several years … I don’t know where we would be without that change in the law.”
