Torneyboy Posted November 19, 2007 Report Share Posted November 19, 2007 Yes..sad but true Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Flashermac Posted November 21, 2007 Author Report Share Posted November 21, 2007 RIYADH (Reuters) - Saudi Arabia defended on Tuesday a court's decision to sentence a woman who was gang-raped to 200 lashes of the whip, after the United States described the verdict as "astonishing". The 19-year-old Shi'ite woman from the town of Qatif in the Eastern Province and an unrelated male companion were abducted and raped by seven men in 2006. Ruling according to Saudi Arabia's strict reading of Islamic law, a court had originally sentenced the woman to 90 lashes and the rapists to jail terms of between 10 months and five years. It blamed the woman for being alone with an unrelated man. Last week the Supreme Judicial Council increased the sentence to 200 lashes and six months in prison and ordered the rapists to serve between two and nine years in jail. The ruling provoked rare criticism from the United States, which is trying to persuade Saudi Arabia to attend a Middle East peace conference in Annapolis, Maryland next week. A State Department spokesman told reporters on Monday that "most (people) would find this relatively astonishing that something like this happens". The court also took the unusual step of initiating disciplinary procedures against her lawyer, Abdul-Rahman al-Lahem, forcibly removing him from the case for having talked about it to the media. "The Ministry of Justice welcomes constructive criticism ... The system allows appeals without resort to the media," said Tuesday's statement issued on the official news agency SPA. It berated media for not specifying that three judges, not one, issued the recent ruling and reiterated that the "charges were proven" against the woman. It also repeated the judges' attack against Lahem last week, saying he had "spoken insolently about the judicial system and challenged laws and regulations". Lahem was not available for comment. New York-based Human Rights Watch has called on King Abdullah, who last month announced plans to overhaul the system, to drop all charges against the woman. A series of erratic verdicts have focused attention on the Saudi legal system, which is dominated by clerics who adhere to the kingdom's austere Sunni form of Islamic law. Personal status law remains uncodified and the system does not recognize the concept of precedent. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
loner w/a boner Posted November 21, 2007 Report Share Posted November 21, 2007 Wow, wouldn't it be wonderful if this was the beginning of change for S.A. And while we're at it, for Pakistan, with their crisis. Sometimes these things backfire or fizzle out. Tiannaman (sp?)Square in China, for example. Pulling for the best, here. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
unit731 Posted November 21, 2007 Report Share Posted November 21, 2007 I may be naive in these international affairs. But my two cents: If these countries provided equal full rights to women, then much of this internal and external crap would end. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bangkoktraveler Posted November 21, 2007 Report Share Posted November 21, 2007 When 4 Thai gentlemen tried robing me, I was told, repeatedly, to take 'responsibility' for what happened. The same ones saying this, never spoke bad of the four gentlemen. We think what happened to this woman and her lawyer is very strange to us, but it is not. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Flashermac Posted November 22, 2007 Author Report Share Posted November 22, 2007 Unfortunately, the problem with both Saudi and Pakistan is that if the present governments go, they will probably be replaced by Islamic nutcases of the type that made this court decision. Anyone remember the Ayatollah Khomeini? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PP Posted November 22, 2007 Report Share Posted November 22, 2007 The question I have for all of you is what do the supposed enlightened westerners that we are do about it? a) Nothing. These countries are sovereign independent nations and can conduct their own business. take some sort non military action like sanctions, etc. or c) force them to change. At the end of a barrel of a gun as a last resort if necessary. d) some other action. We could buy as much oil from them as we possibly can at whatever ridiculous price and defend them from attack by neighbouring countries and then when all the oil runs out we'll run out too and have the last laugh. Oh, hang on, we're already doing that. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The_Munchmaster Posted December 17, 2007 Report Share Posted December 17, 2007 Saudi king 'pardons rape victim' The Saudi king has pardoned a female rape victim sentenced to jail and 200 lashes for being alone with a man raped in the same attack, reports say. The "Qatif girl" case caused an international outcry with widespread criticism of the Saudi justice system. The male and female victims were in a car together when they were abducted and raped by seven attackers, who were given jail sentences up to nine years. Press reports say King Abdullah's move did not mean the sentence was wrong. Quoted by the Jazirah newspaper, Justice Minister Abdullah al-Sheikh said the king had the right to issue pardons if it served the public interest. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Flashermac Posted December 17, 2007 Author Report Share Posted December 17, 2007 It is not known if her companion's sentence was lifted. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Torneyboy Posted December 17, 2007 Report Share Posted December 17, 2007 Justice is served Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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