Saudi turns back on lashes
Dec 17th 2007, 10:10 am
#1
Camel Spotting
Thread Starter
Joined: Aug 2007
Location: Kuwait
Posts: 99
Dec 17th 2007, 10:12 am
#2
Bored liberal
Joined: Feb 2007
Location: Over there ----->
Posts: 13,713
Re: Saudi turns back on lashes
Because stoning is less effort?
Dec 17th 2007, 10:15 am
#3
Camel Spotting
Thread Starter
Joined: Aug 2007
Location: Kuwait
Posts: 99
Dec 17th 2007, 1:51 pm
#4
Lost in BE Cyberspace
Joined: Jul 2007
Posts: 13,553
Re: Saudi turns back on lashes
This from Reuters:
17:50 17Dec07 RTRS-UPDATE 2-Saudi king pardons rape victim - report
(Adds background, quote)
By Andrew Hammond
RIYADH, Dec 17 (Reuters) - Saudi Arabia's King Abdullah has
pardoned the victim of a gang-rape whose sentencing to 200
lashes caused an international outcry, a Saudi newspaper said on
Monday.
The daily al-Jazirah cited Justice Minister Abdullah bin
Mohammad al-Sheikh as saying the king alone had the right to
issue pardons if it was in the public interest.
The minister did not confirm if the pardon, reported from
unnamed sources, had been issued but the newspaper is close to
the religious establishment that controls the Justice Ministry.
The Saudi monarch usually issues pardons to mark the Muslim
Eid al-Adha festival which begins on Wednesday, but such
announcements are published on the official Saudi Press Agency.
The 19-year-old Shi'ite woman was abducted and raped along
with a male companion by seven men last year in a case that has
drawn criticism from around the world.
Ruling according to Saudi Arabia's strict reading of Islamic
law, a court sentenced the woman to 90 lashes for being alone
with an unrelated man and the rapists to prison terms of up to
five years.
The Supreme Judicial Council last month increased the
sentence to 200 lashes and six months in prison and ordered the
rapists to serve between two years and nine years in prison.
"The minister affirmed the integrity, justice and
transparency of the legal system in the kingdom ... and that
there is no cause to cast doubts about it," the paper said.
If confirmed, the pardon would represent a rare occasion
where Saudi rulers have publicly challenged Saudi Arabia's
hardline clerics, who have wide powers in society according to a
traditional pact with the Saudi royal family.
Clerics of Wahhabi Islam dominate the justice system which
King Abdullah said in October he wanted to reform.
The rape case has become a national embarrassment to Saudi
Arabia, provoking soul-searching among columnists in the press
about the country's international image.
U.S. President George W. Bush said earlier this month that
King Abdullah "knows our position loud and clear" on the case,
and Saudi Foreign Minister Saud al-Faisal said last month he
hoped the ruling would be changed.
Fawziya al-Oyouni, a women's rights activist, welcomed the
report but said it was not enough. She said the family of the
victim had not been informed officially of any pardon.
"We don't want to rely simply on pardons. We need harsher
sentences for the guilty parties and we want to feel safe," she
said, citing another rape case in the Eastern Province this
month.
(Writing by Andrew Hammond; Editing by Janet Lawrence)
((+966 1 463 2603; Reuters Messaging:
[email protected]))
Keywords: SAUDI RAPE/PARDON
17:50 17Dec07 RTRS-UPDATE 2-Saudi king pardons rape victim - report
(Adds background, quote)
By Andrew Hammond
RIYADH, Dec 17 (Reuters) - Saudi Arabia's King Abdullah has
pardoned the victim of a gang-rape whose sentencing to 200
lashes caused an international outcry, a Saudi newspaper said on
Monday.
The daily al-Jazirah cited Justice Minister Abdullah bin
Mohammad al-Sheikh as saying the king alone had the right to
issue pardons if it was in the public interest.
The minister did not confirm if the pardon, reported from
unnamed sources, had been issued but the newspaper is close to
the religious establishment that controls the Justice Ministry.
The Saudi monarch usually issues pardons to mark the Muslim
Eid al-Adha festival which begins on Wednesday, but such
announcements are published on the official Saudi Press Agency.
The 19-year-old Shi'ite woman was abducted and raped along
with a male companion by seven men last year in a case that has
drawn criticism from around the world.
Ruling according to Saudi Arabia's strict reading of Islamic
law, a court sentenced the woman to 90 lashes for being alone
with an unrelated man and the rapists to prison terms of up to
five years.
The Supreme Judicial Council last month increased the
sentence to 200 lashes and six months in prison and ordered the
rapists to serve between two years and nine years in prison.
"The minister affirmed the integrity, justice and
transparency of the legal system in the kingdom ... and that
there is no cause to cast doubts about it," the paper said.
If confirmed, the pardon would represent a rare occasion
where Saudi rulers have publicly challenged Saudi Arabia's
hardline clerics, who have wide powers in society according to a
traditional pact with the Saudi royal family.
Clerics of Wahhabi Islam dominate the justice system which
King Abdullah said in October he wanted to reform.
The rape case has become a national embarrassment to Saudi
Arabia, provoking soul-searching among columnists in the press
about the country's international image.
U.S. President George W. Bush said earlier this month that
King Abdullah "knows our position loud and clear" on the case,
and Saudi Foreign Minister Saud al-Faisal said last month he
hoped the ruling would be changed.
Fawziya al-Oyouni, a women's rights activist, welcomed the
report but said it was not enough. She said the family of the
victim had not been informed officially of any pardon.
"We don't want to rely simply on pardons. We need harsher
sentences for the guilty parties and we want to feel safe," she
said, citing another rape case in the Eastern Province this
month.
(Writing by Andrew Hammond; Editing by Janet Lawrence)
((+966 1 463 2603; Reuters Messaging:
[email protected]))
Keywords: SAUDI RAPE/PARDON
Dec 17th 2007, 2:00 pm
#5
BE Forum Addict
Joined: Jul 2007
Location: London and Dubai
Posts: 1,072
Re: Saudi turns back on lashes
on a more serious note though, they didn't get the death penalty because there was no confession... it made me think two things...
a) why would you confess to something if you knew you'd get the death penalty
and b) it sounds like they didn't carry out a medical exam and couldn't prove that it actually happened... so she could be accusing these people of doing it because of them seeing her with a man?
who knows...
Dec 17th 2007, 2:06 pm
#6
Lost in BE Cyberspace
Joined: Jul 2007
Posts: 13,553
Re: Saudi turns back on lashes
on a more serious note though, they didn't get the death penalty because there was no confession... it made me think two things...
a) why would you confess to something if you knew you'd get the death penalty
and b) it sounds like they didn't carry out a medical exam and couldn't prove that it actually happened... so she could be accusing these people of doing it because of them seeing her with a man?
who knows...
This HAPPENED - believe me, this happened.....
And of course I am totally cynical - but I will have a wild guess and say that, on occasions, a gang of scumbags have raped an innocent young woman, then kidnapped a totally innocent, uninvolved male from off the street, abused him as well, then claimed that the pair were 'seen together', and the yobs felt they should uphold the spirit of the law themselves by punishing the two offenders.
THis could of course be completely false - of course I have no way of knowing that this has happened on at least half a dozen occasions over the last year or two............
