Two sisters from Saudi Arabia, who are currently in Turkey, are desperately trying to avoid being returned to the kingdom, where they could be imprisoned, their lawyer has told Al Jazeera.

Serdarhan Topo said that his clients, 30-year-old Ashwaq Hamoud and 28-year-old Areej Hamoud, also fear violence from family members if they are forced to go back home. In Saudi Arabia, where men are legal guardians of the family, women fleeing home is considered a crime.

The sisters face possible criminal charges in Saudi Arabia, which could lead to them being returned to their allegedly abusive guardians or being jailed for filial "disobedience" or "harming the reputation" of their country, because of their appeal for help outside the kingdom.

Turkish laws are currently highly sensitive to "terror" issues due to the country's ongoing state of emergency. According to Turkish law, foreigners should not be returned to a place where "he or she may be subjected to torture, inhuman or degrading punishment or treatment".

Read the full article by Umut Uras about these Saudi sisters from Aljazeera.com