US troubled by sentencing of Saudi human rights activist

Expressing concern over sentencing of a prominent Saudi Arabia's human rights activist to 15 years in jail, the US has appealed to the Saudi government to respect international human rights norms.
"The United States is troubled by the 15-year prison sentence, travel ban, and steep fine handed down to human rights lawyer and activist Waleed Abu al-Khair," State Department Spokesperson Jen Psaki said.
"al-Khair's situation is discussed in our most recent Human Rights Report on Saudi Arabia," she said.
"We urge the Saudi government to respect international human rights norms, a point we make to them regularly," Psaki added.