Sentence Just, Monarch Merciful
That’s the word from the 14th Century. Good King Abdullah has ruled that although Goody Qatif deserves a sound flogging for being caught in the company of a man not her husband, an act that compelled seven high-spirited roustabouts to gang rape the pair of them, it is disquieting to the people and so he shall spare her:
RIYADH, Saudi Arabia - A woman sentenced to prison and a public lashing after being gang-raped has been pardoned by the Saudi monarch in a case that sparked an international outcry, including rare criticism from the United States, the kingdom’s top ally.
The woman, known only as “the Girl of Qatif,” was convicted of violating Saudi Arabia’s strict Islamic laws against mixing of the sexes because she was in a car with a man she was not related to when the seven men attacked and raped them both in 2006.
The sentence shocked many in the West. In unusually strong criticism of a close ally, President Bush said that if the same thing happened to one of his daughters, he would be “angry at those who committed the crime. And I’d be angry at a state that didn’t support the victim.”
…
Justice Minister Abdullah bin Mohammed al-Sheik defended the courts, saying the pardon does not mean the king doubted the country’s judges, but that he was acting in the “interests of the people.”
“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,” al-Sheik said, according to by Al-Jazirah.
Public criticism of the Islamic judiciary is rare in Saudi Arabia, where commitment to implementing the Wahhabi version of Islamic Sharia law is one of the foundations of the ruling family’s legitimacy. Still, the case triggered a small but unusual debate in the country about its courts, in which judges have wide discretion in punishing a criminal, rules of evidence are shaky and sometimes no defense lawyers are present.
The woman’s husband welcomed the pardon, telling The Associated Press by telephone Monday that when his wife heard the news, she was “very, very happy and felt psychologically better.”
No doubt.
The sentences for the seven men were also increased to between two to nine years in prison, up from the initial sentence of 10 months to five years.
Amnesty International said the man who was raped received the same sentence as the woman. Al-Jazirah did not mention whether he had been pardoned as well.
Article notes that Abdullah’s seen as a bit of a reformer. Here’s a thought. How about flogging the gang rapists instead? The courts are quite flexible when they want to send a message. You’ll recall the Woman of Qatif originally got 90 lashes, but that was upped to 200 to teach her a lesson after she shamefully enlisted the international media against the courts.
Topics: Islam, saudi arabia
Posted by Jules Crittenden at 8:29 am on Tuesday, December 18, 2007
6 Responses to “Sentence Just, Monarch Merciful”
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December 18th, 2007 at 12:45 pm
I have an idea more in keeping with Sharia law. They chop the hands off thieves, don’t they? I say punish the rapists in a like manner, only don’t bother with the hands.
December 18th, 2007 at 2:59 pm
Abdullah better watch out, the western left will be calling him a ‘progressive” here pretty quick.
December 18th, 2007 at 3:18 pm
I prefer their heads, Rebecca, but I must admit there’s a certain irony to your approach.
December 18th, 2007 at 8:54 pm
With rapists I’d suggest lopping off another appendage.
December 19th, 2007 at 2:21 pm
Barbaric. No matter how you dress it up, the whole thing is barbaric.
December 20th, 2007 at 12:16 am
Would you like some tales of what goes on in the Saudi harem when no one is looking ?
Or Saudi girls who successfully circumvent “the law” by traveling outside Riyadh to meet and converse with actual guys “not their husbands” ?
I could live with the BS laws (maybe) if “the Saudis” weren’t generally such hypocrites.