“charges were proven”
Ruling according to Saudi Arabia’s strict reading of Islamic law, a court had originally sentenced the woman to 90 lashes and the rapists to jail terms of between 10 months and five years. It blamed the woman for being alone with an unrelated man. Last week the Supreme Judicial Council increased the sentence to 200 lashes and six months in prison and ordered the rapists to serve between two and nine years in jail…
A State Department spokesman told reporters on Monday that “most would find this relatively astonishing that something like this happens”.
The court also took the unusual step of initiating disciplinary procedures against her lawyer, Abdul-Rahman al-Lahem, forcibly removing him from the case for having talked about it to the media. “The Ministry of Justice welcomes constructive criticism … The system allows appeals without resort to the media,” said Tuesday’s statement issued on the official news agency SPA.
It berated media for not specifying that three judges, not one, issued the recent ruling and reiterated that the “charges were proven” against the woman. It also repeated the judges’ attack against Lahem last week, saying he had “spoken insolently about the judicial system and challenged laws and regulations”.
And from a November 26 update:
Saudi Arabia defended on Saturday a court’s decision to sentence a woman who was gang-raped to 200 lashes, saying she was having an extramarital affair in violation of Islamic laws. The case of the 19-year-old Shi’ite woman who was abducted and raped along with a male companion by seven men has drawn international attention. Even the United States, a close ally of the conservative kingdom, offered mild criticism of the verdict.
“The woman in the case is married and has confessed to establishing a relationship in violation of (Islamic) sharia law,” the Saudi justice ministry said in a statement. It said she and her companion had been alone in a dark area outdoors, when they were noticed by the men who later raped them.
UPDATE II
It could have been worse. Fox:
Ali bin Suweid Al-Domnan killed Diyab bin Ali al-Mansour following an argument in the southern city of Najran.
Saudi Arabia follows a strict interpretation of Islam under which those convicted of murder, drug trafficking, rape and armed robbery are executed in public with a sword.
Sunday’s execution brought to 136 the number of people beheaded in the kingdom this year, according to an Associated Press count. Saudi Arabia beheaded 38 people last year and 83 people in 2005.