Daily Times

JEDDAH: Boxer Anthony Joshua declined to comment on human rights in Saudi Arabia as news broke Wednesday that a woman had been jailed for 34 years over her Twitter activity, days before his world heavyweight fight in Jeddah. Joshua, who has been based in Saudi Arabia ahead of Saturday’s unification bout with Oleksandr Usyk of Ukraine, said people seemed “cool” in the kingdom and that he preferred to avoid “negative” talk. “I’m here enjoying Saudi Arabia now we’re all here loving the positive side of things. Don’t focus on anything that’s negative. I’ve had a great time,” he said. As Joshua was preparing for his fight, it emerged that a Saudi woman studying in Britain was jailed for 34 years — with a further 34-year travel ban — for posting messages on Twitter. The Saudi appeals court sentenced Salma al-Shehab, 34, on August 9 for tweets that aided dissidents seeking to “disrupt public order” in the kingdom, according to court documents. The sentence comes as part of a widespread crackdown rights activists in the conservative Sunni Muslim country, many of whom have been slapped with jail sentences and travel bans.