The New York-based Human Rights Watch said in a statement that the kingdom's religious police who arrested and interrogated Fawza Falih, and the judges who tried her in the northern town of Quraiyat never gave her the opportunity to prove her innocence in the face of "absurd charges that have no basis in law." [emphasis mine]Gee, didn't the West and Christianity stop this almost five centuries ago? Yes, there are probably some stupid practitioners in the back woods and jungles who still do it, but as a state sanctioned religious act? Puhleeeeeze!
A court in the ultra-conservative kingdom of Saudi Arabia is punishing a female victim of gang rape with 200 lashes and six months in jail, a newspaper reported on Thursday.But not in the face! What a lovely culture.
The 19-year-old woman -- whose six, armed attackers have been sentenced to jail terms -- was initially ordered to undergo 90 lashes for "being in the car of an unrelated male at the time of the rape," the Arab News reported.
But in a new verdict issued after Saudi Arabia's Higher Judicial Council ordered a retrial, the court in the eastern town of Al-Qatif more than doubled the number of lashes to 200.
A court source told the English-language Arab News that the judges had decided to punish the woman further for "her attempt to aggravate and influence the judiciary through the media."
A Saudi man divorced his wife for watching alone a television programme presented by a male, an act he deemed immoral, the Al Shams newspaper reported on Saturday.Well what do you know, Madman Ahmadinejad was right, women are totally respected in his world. Yeah... right. What a lovely culture.
The man, whom the paper did not identify, ended his marriage on the grounds his wife was effectively alone with an unrelated man, which is forbidden under the strict Islamic law enforced in the ultra-conservative kingdom, the paper said.
Men in Saudi Arabia have the authority to divorce their wives without resort to the courts.
From VOA News...
Conservative Muslim candidates have swept elections in Saudi Arabia's first nationwide municipal vote, giving rise to complaints that they had an unfair advantage because of religious endorsements.
Thursday's voting in the western part of the kingdom completed the three-phase vote, which began in February.
Western region winners were announced Saturday. In the holy city of Medina, as well as in the ultra-conservative town of Buraydah, cleric-supported candidates swept the vote. In Jeddah, long considered one of the country's most liberal cities, voters also chose conservatives.
Saudi men over age 21 voted for half the members of the kingdom's municipal councils. The government will appoint the remaining half.
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