BF2S Forums Saudi judge sentences pregnant gang-rape victim to 100 lashes

War Man wrote:

Ultrafunkula wrote:

GR34 wrote:

I didn't man it literally. What I was trying to get as Is we need to some how set the Muslims strait. Like how come when a woman gets raped she goes to prison and not the men doing the raping? The way I first put it now that I really think hard about it would be very unrealistic and horrible I am sorry for that comment

Ok. Which one of you guys is trolling which one? I'm confused now.

If there is anyone trolling, it ain't me.

Last edited by Ultrafunkula (2009-02-14 01:32:33)

Saudi Arabia has named a woman as deputy minister for education - the most senior role ever held by a female in the kingdom.

Norah al-Faiz, currently an official at the Saudi Institute for Public Administration, was named as the deputy minister responsible for women's education as part of a reshuffle of the cabinet, military and judiciary on Saturday.

King Abdullah also ordered the replacement of the chief of the Supreme Council of Justice, Saleh al-Lihedan, who last year issued an edict saying it was permissible to kill the owners of satellite television channels deemed to show "immoral" content.

The head of the commission is the kingdom's second-most influential cleric.

Sheikh Abdul Aziz al-Humain was appointed as the new head of the Commission for the Promotion of Virtue and the Prevention of Vice which controls the religious police, replacing Sheikh Ibrahim al-Ghaith.

The police have wide powers to search for alcohol, drugs and prostitution, ensure shops are closed during prayer times and maintain the system of sexual segregation in Saudi society.

'Turning point'

The reshuffle, King Abdullah's first since he took power following the the death of his half-brother in 2005, also saw new education, justice and information ministers appointed.

"This is a turning point. It is the biggest change that happened in this country in 20 years," Mohammad al-Zulfa, a member of Saudi Arabia's Shura council, told the AFP news agency.

"It is a new start for King Abdullah. People are expecting changes," he said. "These are new faces who can bring change."

The monarch also appointed Abdul-Aziz Khoja, who was previously ambassador to Lebanon, as information minister, replacing Iyad bin Amin Madani, state-run al-Ekhbariya television reported.

Clerics had often criticised Madani for allowing the local press to take greater liberty in challenging the establishment.

A teenage gang-rape victim in Saudi Arabia, sentenced to 200 lashes and a jail term for being alone with a man unrelated to her, has reportedly been pardoned by King Abdullah.

A Saudi newspaper said on Monday that the 19-year-old's sentence and a six-month jail term had been quashed.
Abdullah bin Mohammed al-Sheikh, the Saudi justice minister, told Al Jazirah daily that the pardon does not mean the king doubted the country's judges, but instead acted in the "interests of the people".

The girl's sentencing had triggered international outrage.
"The king always looks into alleviating the suffering of the citizens when he becomes sure that these verdicts will leave psychological effects on the convicted people, though he is convinced and sure that the verdicts were fair."

The victim's husband welcomed the news, but said he had not been informed officially of the pardon decree.

"I am happy and my wife is happy and it will of course help lift some of her psychological and social suffering," he told the Reuters news agency.

"We thank the king for his generous attention and fatherly spirit."

Increased sentencing

The girl and a man were in a car when they were kidnapped and raped at knifepoint by seven men in 2006.

The girl, who was 18 at the time of the rape, was originally sentenced to 90 lashes in October 2006 for being alone with the man - which is against the Saudi's strict interpretation of Islamic law.

The rapists were sentenced to between one and five years.

The Supreme Judicial Council increased the girl's sentence to 200 lashes and six months in jail last month after she appealed, saying she had attempted "to aggravate and influence the judiciary through the media".

The rapists also had their sentences increased to between two and nine years in November.

US reaction

In Washington, Dana Perino, the White House spokeswoman,  welcomed the move, saying: "This is a decision that King Abdullah needed to make on behalf of Saudi Arabia, and we think it was the right one."

George W Bush, the US president, said earlier this month that King Abdullah "knows our position loud and clear" on the case.

Waheed Hamzah Hashem, a professor at King Abdul Aziz University, told Al Jazeera that the king can intervene if it serves the interests of the people.

However, he cautioned: "Don't think he acted because he felt the pressure of the international outcry.

"He acted because he felt that in this specific case there was some misunderstanding or misinterpretation by the judge and therefore he has to intervene in order to achieve justice for all."

A lawyer for a gang-rape victim in Saudi Arabia who was sentenced to 200 lashes and six months in jail says the punishment contravenes Islamic law.

The woman was initially punished for violating laws on segregation of the sexes - she was in an unrelated man's car at the time of the attack.

When she appealed, judges doubled her sentence, saying she had been trying to use the media to influence them.

Her lawyer has been suspended from the case and faces a disciplinary session.

Abdel Rahman al-Lahem told the BBC Arabic Service that the sentence was in violation of Islamic law:

"My client is the victim of this abhorrent crime. I believe her sentence contravenes the Islamic Sharia law and violates the pertinent international conventions," he said.

"The judicial bodies should have dealt with this girl as the victim rather than the culprit."

The lawyer also said that his client would appeal against the decision to increase her punishment.

Segregation laws

According to the Arab News newspaper, the 19-year-old woman was gang-raped 14 times in an attack in Qatif in the eastern province a year-and-a-half ago.

Seven men were found guilty of the rape and sentenced to prison terms ranging from just under a year to five years.

The victim and attackers are from Saudi Arabia's Shia minority.

   
Being a Muslim, I think it's a big injustice done to the girl. If the court doubled the sentence of the girl then they should have given death penalty to the rapists
Asfandyar
Saudi Arabia

Readers react in numbers

The rapists' sentences were also doubled by the court. Correspondents say the sentences were still low considering the rapists could have faced the death penalty.

The rape victim was punished for violating Saudi Arabia's laws on segregation that forbid unrelated men and women from associating with each other. She was initially sentenced to 90 lashes for being in the car of a strange man.

On appeal, the Arab News reported that the punishment was not reduced but increased to 200 lashes and a six-month prison sentence.

'Personal views'

Mr Lahem accused the court of letting personal views influence its decision.

"It seems that the sentence was influenced by the fact that the woman escalated the issue with her lawyer and also with the supreme judicial authorities," he said.

"This is astonishing because justice is supposed to be independent from all pressures as well as personal considerations, be it a feeling towards the lawyer or defendant herself," he added.

The Arab News quoted an official as saying the judges had decided to punish the girl for trying to aggravate and influence the judiciary through the media.

Mr Lahem said that the judges' decision to confiscate his licence to work and stop him from representing his client is illegal.

12/f/taiwan wrote:

D&ST plz.