Justice?? Young woman raped then sentenced to 200 lashes and 6 months in prison!!

[InForAPennyInForApound]

Qatif Girl’s Lawyer to File Complaint Against Ministry

There is no justice towards women, nor is there human rights in Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.. I am very surprised that President George Bush has not commented on this!!
JEDDAH, 27 November 2007 — The lawyer for a victim of kidnapping and rape who was sentenced to 200 lashes and six months in prison said yesterday he would file a complaint that states the Ministry of Justice defamed his client.
The defamation suit would be filed through the Ministry of Culture and Information because the defamation of his client occurred through a statement the Ministry of Justice issued through the Saudi Press Agency on Saturday.
The lawyer, Abdul Rahman Al-Lahem, is disputing claims made by the ministry, including that his 19-year-old client had confessed to the moral crime of having an “illegal affair” with an unrelated man.
Arab News has made several attempts to get the Justice Ministry’s reply to this case, but since the ministry doesn’t have an official spokesperson all media requests are submitted by fax. Replies, if they come, take weeks, making it difficult to get the ministry’s response to breaking news. A fax with questions regarding the case was sent to the ministry’s Public Relations Department last week requesting a reply by today due to the urgency of the case.
On Sunday, Sheikh Abdul Mohsen Al-Obeikan, a former judge and current member of the Saudi Fatwa Committee (responsible for issuing religious edicts), represented the ministry on a program aired on Lebanon’s LBC network. Al-Lahem faced off with the sheikh as the two debated the course of this case. The victim’s husband also called in and confronted the sheikh. (The victim and her husband have signed a marriage contract but have never lived together because they have not had a public wedding yet, which is the final step of marriage under Saudi custom that allows them to live together.)
The lawyer and the husband reject claims by the ministry that the young woman had confessed to her moral crime. They said the judges were using witness testimony by the men who were found guilty of abducting and gang-raping not only the woman but the man she was with at the time.
“The ministry’s official statement, concerning the girl, was cited directly from the assaulters’ testimony,” Al-Lahem said during the program on Sunday.
On Saturday the Ministry of Justice said the basis of the decision to punish the woman was because she had arranged to meet the man to “exchange forbidden affairs through illegal khalwa ... they both confessed to doing what God forbids.”
“All she said during the police investigation and her only testimony in front of the judges was that she went to meet that guy to get back the pictures with which he was blackmailing her,” the woman’s husband told Arab News. “It’s obvious now that they published this because they wanted the husband to feel ashamed and shut up.”
Al-Lahem said because this is a defamation complaint, the Ministry of Culture and Information would receive his objection in accordance with a royal decree that assigns media disputes to that ministry.
The local Arabic press has marginalized the story and have published only the ministry statements verbatim. One headline declared “Ministry Reveals Qatif Story” while some newspapers headlines have called the rape victim an “adulteress.”
Avoiding the words “rape” or “adultery”, Sheikh Al-Obeikan blamed the girl for “what has happened” and underscored the court’s belief that she committed a crime of illegal affair and “stained the matrimonial bed” and thus deserved the punishment she received.
At that point Al-Lahem interrupted and objected to the ambiguous language being used by the sheikh. “What illegal affair are you accusing her of? Khalwa is a minor crime in Shariah,” said Al-Lahem.
Sheikh Al-Obeikan repeated what was said in Saturday’s ministry statement: “Doing what God forbids.”
“Are you accusing her of adultery?” asked Al-Lahem.
Al-Obeikan: “We all know what forbidden act. The ministry does not want to announce that word.”
Meanwhile, Al-Lahem has not yet received a copy of the verdict from the court as required for the appeals process to go to the Court of Cassation. The husband was scheduled to receive the documents on Saturday.
“I went to the court on Saturday, but they told me (the document) is not ready and I can get it after a week,” said the rape victim’s husband, who added that throughout this last trial he has not received any documentation regarding his wife’s case: “Not even a copy of the police investigation records.”
Apart from all that is happening in this case, the victim of kidnapping and gang rape is recuperating with her family in deep distress after last week’s sentence, according to a source close to the case. The young woman, who was an 11th-grade student at the time of the rape, had dropped out of school because of the distress. Her family has not told her about the latest developments in the case to avoid further distress.

[bobdezon]

Yeah, the religion of peace

[tiswas]

I get very angry by the mere name of Saudi Arabia

[Fiona]

Does anyone know what the medical effects of such a sentence are? I have tried googling but I obviously did not get my search terms right. I wonder at the number of lashes and I am not clear what is actually used to inflict them. Are there any cases where people have been killed or permanently injured? What medical supervision is there?

[FarSideOfTheMoon]

I'm sorry, but the source escapes me at present, but I remember reading about the after effects of this type of punishment a couple of years ago.

If I remember correctly, death is not uncommon, you aren't exactly flooded with offers of medical help after the punishment is meted out.

The strain on the body is enormous, and serious skin and nerve damage usually results along with a few nice infections along the way.

[ZERO]

I get very angry by the mere name of Saudi Arabia

I get angry at the mention of sharia law. I'm sure some Saudis do too.

[InForAPennyInForApound]

One word sums it up: Barbaric! Medically speaking, the affects are enormous. the whip may not have been disinfected, the pain inflicted causes the person to pass out, however, they are tied to a pole or from the ceiling keeping them suspended, to be kept straight up to continue the lashing. The skin, tissue, muscles, nerves, tendons, etc. is badly damaged, a lot of scarring is permanent. Loss of blood. This is punishment, therefore the convict may not have medical supervision during lashing. However, after the lashing the person may be examined by a doctor who will prescribe antibiotics, creams, painkillers etc to help soothe the pain. Psychologically these scars can never be erased, it builds up great anger and resentment in the lashed person. It may leave them mentally scared for life. Their backs look like raw liver and many times back bones/hips are exposed. They lash/whip from the shoulders down to the legs. Convicts wish for death during these lashings. Its shameful and barbaric for one human to inflict this upon another! The end result: A open raw back. God help her!

[Fiona]

You got a source for that InforAPenny?. It fits with common sense but I would like to be able to cite some evidence.

[InForAPennyInForApound]

You got a source for that InforAPenny?. It fits with common sense but I would like to be able to cite some evidence.

Sorry Fiona, only from a medical point of view. Tonight in our newspaper this was reported:

Saudi assessing rape victim verdict
RIYADH: Saudi Arabia''s foreign minister said the kingdom''s judiciary was reviewing a sentence of six months in jail and 200 lashes handed down to a gang rape victim, official media said on Tuesday.
"There is currently a review process being carried out into the ruling by the judicial system," the SPA news agency quoted Prince Saud AlـFaisal as telling reporters from the USـhosted Middle East peace conference.
The sentence against the 19ـyearـold girl in the ultraـconservative Muslim state has attracted widespread international condemnation, including from human rights groups and the White House.
"What is aggravating in this matter is that individual acts like these are used to attack the Saudi people and its government," SPA quoted Prince Saud as saying.
The teenage victim, who has not been identified, was attacked at knife point by seven men after she was found in a car with a male companion who was not a relative, in breach of strict Saudi law. ـAFP

[bobdezon]

Does anyone know what the medical effects of such a sentence are? I have tried googling but I obviously did not get my search terms right. I wonder at the number of lashes and I am not clear what is actually used to inflict them. Are there any cases where people have been killed or permanently injured? What medical supervision is there?

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/pages/liv...n_page_id=1811

[Fiona]

Thank you, Bobdezon. Do you happen to know if this is the same weapon used in Saudi? I am a little surprised one could stay silent in the face of this. And also that there was no permanent damage. I wonder if 200 is supportable at all

[bobdezon]

If they used an actual lash you could die from bloodloss or secondary infections. The british navy were known to flay some sailors alive using the cat o ninetails. This I think is the rod. You must have a koran under your arm to restrict the swing, so although very painful it is rarely deadly. I believe they do this in singapore too.

[InForAPennyInForApound]

The leather whip used is soaked in salt water and dried before use. This makes the whip stiff. No doctor is present before or after lashing. Upon the prisoner being released his/her family will have her examined by a medical practitioner. They are whipped from shoulders down to ankles. Each warden attending the lashing, is given a chance to whip 10 - 20 lashes a time in order for the lashes to be kept up in the same momentum. A Quran is not held under the armpit when the lashing takes place, as its not a religious practice but a sentence being carried out. I can not speak on behalf of other countries other than the M.E. These lashes are done from hand raised in front of body then lashing down onto back of body, the wardens do not put their arms backwards in the air, that would be thrashing. The lashes are extremely painful. Imagine 200?!