According to the Gulf Center for Human Rights, Ms. Khawaja destroyed the king’s image in front of the judge after paying tribute to her jailed father, Abdulhadi al-Khawaja, one of eight opposition leaders sentenced to life in prison by a special security court for “plotting to topple the government” through pro-democracy demonstrations in 2011.

“I am the daughter of a proud and free man,” Ms. Khawaja told the judge, according to her sister, Maryam. “My mother brought me into this world free,” she continued, “and I will give birth to a free baby boy even if it is inside our prisons. It is my right, and my responsibility as a free person, to protest against oppression and oppressors.” She then ripped up another photograph of King Hamad and was arrested.