Activist Samar Badawi arrested by Saudi authorities

Samar Badawi, a Saudi human rights activist, was arrested by Saudi police on Tuesday.

Badawi manages her husband Waleed Abulkheir's Twitter account and was reportedly arrested for tweeting a picture of him inside prison.

The picture was taken two years ago when Abulkheir, a prominent lawyer and activist, was first imprisoned. In 2014, he was sentenced to 15 years prison time and became the first Saudi to be prosecuted under the country's Terrorism Act.

Abulkheir was also fined 200,000 riyals ($31,000) and banned from travelling for an additional 15 years upon completion of his sentence.

The Specialised Criminal Court in Jeddah charged him with "undermining the regime and officials, inciting public opinion and insulting the judiciary".

The couple has a young daughter together named Jood who was born during her father's incarceration.

Badawi is also the sister of Raif Badawi, the Saudi blogger whose case gained international attention after he was sentenced to 10 years in prison and 1,000 lashes. He was sentenced on charges of apostasy and insulting Islam through electronic channels. 

Raif Badawi is the founder of the Free Saudi Liberals website.

His wife Ensaf, who sought political asylum in Canada with their three children in 2013, was one of the first to break the news of Samar Badawi's arrest on Twitter.

According to Ensaf, Samar is being held at the Dhahran central prison, where both her husband and brother are imprisoned.

Badawi was awarded the International Women of Courage Award in 2012, which was presented to her by Michelle Obama and Hillary Rodham Clinton at the US State Department.