Posted on 11/21/2007 9:28:12 AM PST by PRePublic
Saudis defend punishment for rape victim
RIYADH, Saudi Arabia - The Saudi judiciary on Tuesday defended a court verdict that sentenced a 19-year-old victim of a gang rape to six months in jail and 200 lashes because she was with an unrelated male when they were attacked.
The Shiite Muslim woman had initially been sentenced to 90 lashes after being convicted of violating Saudi Arabia's rigid Islamic law requiring segregation of the sexes.
But in considering her appeal of the verdict, the Saudi General Court increased the punishment. It also roughly doubled prison sentences for the seven men convicted of raping the woman, Saudi news media said last week.
The reports triggered an international outcry over the Saudis punishing the victim of a terrible crime.
But the Ministry of Justice stood by the verdict Tuesday, saying that "charges were proven" against the woman for having been in a car with a man who was not her relative.
The ministry implied the victim's sentence was increased because she spoke out to the press. "For whoever has an objection on verdicts issued, the system allows an appeal without resorting to the media," said the statement, which was carried on the official Saudi Press Agency.
The attack occurred in 2006. The victim says she was in a car with a male student she used to know trying to retrieve a picture of her. She says two men got into the car and drove them to a secluded area where she was raped by seven men. Her friend also was assaulted.
Justice in Saudi Arabia is administered by a system of religious courts according to the kingdom's strict interpretation of Islamic law.
Judges have wide discretion in punishing criminals, rules of evidence are vague and sometimes no defense lawyer is present. The result, critics say, are sentences left to the whim of judges. A rapist, for instance, could receive anywhere from a light sentence to death.
State Department spokesman Sean McCormack avoided directly criticizing the Saudi judiciary over the case, but said the verdict "causes a fair degree of surprise and astonishment."
"It is within the power of the Saudi government to take a look at the verdict and change it," McCormack said.
Canada's minister for women's issues, Jose Verger, has called the sentence "barbaric."
The New York-based Human Rights Watch said the verdict "not only sends victims of sexual violence the message that they should not press charges, but in effect offers protection and impunity to the perpetrators."
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20071121/ap_on_re_mi_ea/saudi_rape
but Mr. Bush has his Globalist agenda doesn't he.
You are dead right.
I never understood why Saudi Arabia was not held liable as the incubator of terrorism, source for 9/11.
Isn’t the headline kind of misleading? The way I read it,
it says that the woman was punished for being raped. The
story does not.
Mike
The govt is Sunni and this girl is Shiite. One thing we’ve learned is that Sunnis and Shiites don’t like each other. That being said, the islamic religion is totally repressive and a woman can’t expect any type of relief from this horrible religion.
The cricket chirps from American feminists is deafening...
“Rape” in the headline isn’t a noun describing her charge, it’s an adjective modifying “victim.” The headline doesn’t say what she is being punished for, just that she’s being punished for something, so it’s not inconsistent.
And both the headline and the story make it clear that the Saudis are psychopaths.
All I could say was, "Indeed".
Gotta chip all those new citizens. They're just mexicans! They deserve to be chipped!
Saudi Arabia is a very evil place, and they will have much to answer to God for abusing and misleading so many people.
I do not think that Islam should be classed as a religion for it has NO basis in truth.
Islam-list
If people want on or off this list, please let me know.
She is being punished for being with an unrelated male.
IIRC, the girls aren't supposed to be with any male other then a family member.
So...according to the Saudis, she not only deserved to be raped, she needed punishing, too.
"And both the headline and the story make it clear that the Saudis are psychopaths."
On that, you are abosulutely right!
Stupid Saudis.
I wonder if they will ever rid themselves
of their seventh century mentality?
Thanks, knighthawk!
I believe that can be answered with a single three letter word that starts with "o" and ends with "l".
And these are our “friends” in the Middle East?
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