Wajnat Rahbini, the Saudi actress who was held on Saturday for driving a car in the Red Sea resort of Jeddah, said that her late husband had been her driving instructor.
"I had to drive him to hospital whenever he needed treatment, especially when he fainted," Wajnat said. "I had to look after him because nobody else was willing to do it," she said, quoted by Saudi daily Okaz.
Wajnat said that she drove the car, registered in her name, on Saturday after her driver went home for holidays.
"I went to an office to complete some paper work related to my company," she said.
The actress was held after a man reported her to the local police and her car was impounded.
"The police were courteous. I have driven before and the traffic policemen I encountered were very respectful," she said.
Wajnat was released without paying bail, the daily said.
Saudi Arabia is in the midst of a tense debate over the merit of women driving vehicles.
The discussions were fuelled by the arrest for some days of Manal Al Shareef, a Saudi woman who drove in Al Khobar, in the eastern province of Saudi Arabia.
Campaigns for and against women driving were launched in social networks.
Wajnat achieved fame throughout the Arab world for her role in Tash Ma Tash (No big deal), a popular Saudi Arabian satirical comedy that has been running exclusively in Ramadan since 1992
No comments:
Post a Comment