Geneva - (AFP) - The United Nations called on Friday for the immediate and unconditional release of the Saudi student and feminist activist, Salma Al-Shehab , who was sentenced to 34 years in prison after she posted tweets critical of the government.

"We are upset by the conviction of doctoral student Salma Al-Shehab ... regarding a series of tweets and retweets related to political topics and human rights in Saudi Arabia," said Liz Trussell, a spokeswoman for the UN Human Rights Office.

"She should not have been stopped and condemned for such behavior," the spokeswoman said in a statement.

On August 9, a Saudi appeals court sentenced Salma Al-Shihab, 34, to prison on charges of “providing aid” to dissidents seeking to “destabilize the state” due to tweets and retweets on Twitter, under the Anti-Terrorism Crimes and Financing Law.

She has also been banned from leaving the country for 34 years, according to the text of the ruling seen by AFP.

The spokeswoman called on "the Saudi authorities to cancel the sentence and release her immediately and without conditions."

She also expressed concern about "this exceptionally long-term condemnation" and the impact it might have on "critics of the government and on civil society in general."

It also noted that this conviction "constitutes a new example of the Saudi authorities' use of anti-terrorism and cybercrime laws in the country to target human rights defenders and people who express their dissenting opinions by intimidating them and taking revenge on them."

In addition, the Human Rights Office called on the Saudi authorities to review all convictions related to freedom of expression and human rights defenders. This includes, according to the statement, "all the women who were imprisoned after they demanded reforms to discriminatory policies, in addition to clerics and journalists."