It is hard for Westerners to grapple with the entire concept, but a Court in Saudi Arabia sentencing a 19 year old rape-victim to 200 lashes and a 6 month imprisonment?
The IHT reports:
"Saudi Arabia defended on Tuesday a controversial verdict sentencing a 19-year-old gang rape victim to six months jail and 200 lashes.
The Shiite Muslim woman had initially been sentenced to 90 lashes after being convicted of violating Saudi Arabia's rigid Sharia Islamic law on segregation of the sexes.
In its decision doubling her sentence last week, the Saudi General Court also roughly doubled prison sentences for the seven men convicted of raping her, Saudi media said."
And:
"Justice in Saudi Arabia is administered by a system of religious courts according to the kingdom's strict interpretation of the Sharia.
Reports on the story triggered debate about the country's legal system, in which judges have wide discretion in punishing a criminal, rules of evidence are shaky and sometimes no defense lawyers is present. The result, critics say, are sentences left to the whim of judges. A rapist, for instance, could receive anywhere from a light or no sentence, to death.
The woman was identified in the media only as the Girl from Qatif, the eastern city where the rape took place. Human Rights Watch said she was married at the time of the assault."
The IHT reports:
"Saudi Arabia defended on Tuesday a controversial verdict sentencing a 19-year-old gang rape victim to six months jail and 200 lashes.
The Shiite Muslim woman had initially been sentenced to 90 lashes after being convicted of violating Saudi Arabia's rigid Sharia Islamic law on segregation of the sexes.
In its decision doubling her sentence last week, the Saudi General Court also roughly doubled prison sentences for the seven men convicted of raping her, Saudi media said."
And:
"Justice in Saudi Arabia is administered by a system of religious courts according to the kingdom's strict interpretation of the Sharia.
Reports on the story triggered debate about the country's legal system, in which judges have wide discretion in punishing a criminal, rules of evidence are shaky and sometimes no defense lawyers is present. The result, critics say, are sentences left to the whim of judges. A rapist, for instance, could receive anywhere from a light or no sentence, to death.
The woman was identified in the media only as the Girl from Qatif, the eastern city where the rape took place. Human Rights Watch said she was married at the time of the assault."
Comments