Saudi punishes gang rape victim with 200 lashes

Another example of the barbarism of Saudi Arabia.
FROM BREITBATR.COM:
Saudi punishes gang rape victim with 200 lashes
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.
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."
Saudi Arabia enforces a strict Islamic doctrine known as Wahhabism and forbids unrelated men and women from associating with each other, bans women from driving and forces them to cover head-to-toe in public.
Last year, the court sentenced six Saudi men to between one and five years in jail for the rape as well as ordering lashes for the victim, a member of the minority Shiite community.
But the woman's lawyer Abdul Rahman al-Lahem appealed, arguing that the punishments were too lenient in a country where the offence can carry the death penalty.
In the new verdict issued on Wednesday, the Al-Qatif court also toughened the sentences against the six men to between two and nine years in prison.
The case has angered members of Saudi Arabia's Shiite community. The convicted men are Sunni Muslims, the dominant community in the oil-rich Gulf state.
Lahem, also a human rights activist, told AFP on Wednesday that the court had banned him from handling the rape case and withdrew his licence to practise law because he challenged the verdict.
He said he has also been summoned by the ministry of justice to appear before a disciplinary committee in December.
Lahem said the move might be due to his criticism of some judicial institutions, and "contradicts King Abdullah's quest to introduce reform, especially in the justice system."
King Abdullah last month approved a new body of laws regulating the judicial system in Saudi Arabia, which rules on the basis of sharia, or Islamic law.

Indonesian maid held in Saudi after "magic" attack

Here is another example of the barbarism of Saudi Arabia. If not for their vast oil reserves, they would still be nomadic camel herders slitting each others throats over a water hole. Don't forget that the Saudis also have a 19 year old girl, Rizana Nafeek under death sentence for the accidental death to a infant, see previous posts.
FROM REUTERS:
Wed Aug 22, 2007 2:05PM BST
RIYADH
Indonesian maid held in Saudi after "magic" attack
Saudi police have detained an Indonesian maid after two of her colleagues were killed on suspicion they were involved in black magic, an Indonesian diplomat and newspapers said on Wednesday.
Four maids were attacked this month by seven members of a Saudi household in Aflaj, a desert village south of Riyadh, and two of them died. Saudi papers have said seven Saudis were detained over the incident.
One of the survivors, Tari Tarsim, 27, was taken into custody by police on Monday, an Indonesian diplomat told Reuters.
"The family suspected them of practising magic -- "sihr" -- on one of their children who got ill. They suspected one of the four ladies was doing magic," the diplomat said.
"We have information that on Monday one of the surviving maids was transferred to police custody. We don't know why she was transferred."
The Saudi authorities did not inform the embassy of the deaths or that one of the women, all Muslims, was detained, he said. The Indonesian embassy has appointed a lawyer to represent the surviving women if they face legal procedures.
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