Posted on 08/31/2006 11:03:57 PM PDT by Mount Athos
A Saudi man convicted of sexually assaulting an Indonesian housekeeper and keeping her as a virtual slave was sentenced yesterday to 27 years to life in prison in Colorado.
Homaidan Al-Turki, the 37-year-old Saudi national, denied the charges and blamed anti-Muslim prejudice for the case against him. He said prosecutors persuaded the housekeeper to accuse him after they failed to build a case that he was a terrorist.
Al-Turki, who was studying for a doctoral degree at the University of Colorado, was convicted June 30 of unlawful sexual contact by use of force, theft and extortion. All are felonies.
He was also convicted on misdemeanor counts of false imprisonment and conspiracy to commit false imprisonment.
After the judge denied a motion for a new trial yesterday, defense attorney John Richilano said he would appeal the convictions. The lawyer argued that cultural differences were at the heart of the charges.
The Saudi Embassy in Washington would not comment on the case.
“The problem is that in Saudi Arabia, many are going to take Al-Turki’s side, and say he was a good guy, which isn’t true,” said a Saudi businessman working in Washington who is following the case but requested anonymity. “He truly did some awful things.”
Bakr Bagader, member of the Saudi National Human Rights Society (NHRS), said the Saudi government should ensure that the man is indeed guilty. “If the man is given a fair trial and is found guilty of sexual assault, backed up by solid evidence, then no one should be above the law,” said Bagader.
Prosecutors and FBI agents said Al-Turki and his wife, Sarah Khonaizan, brought the woman to Colorado to care for their five children and to cook and clean for the family. An affidavit said she spent four years with the family in their suburban Colorado home, sleeping on a mattress on the basement floor and getting paid less than $2 a day.
The media have not identified the woman, who is now 24, because she is an alleged victim of rape.
Al-Turki said he treated the woman the same way any observant Muslim family would treat a daughter. “Your honor, I am not here to apologize, for I cannot apologize for things I did not do and for crimes I did not commit,” he told the judge. “The state has criminalized these basic Muslim behaviors. Attacking traditional Muslim behaviors was the focal point of the prosecution.”
Al-Turki said he has been under investigation as a suspected terrorist since 1995 but has never been charged with the crime. “I am not a terrorist and I don’t advocate terrorism,” he said.
Al-Turki, a linguist who worked at a Denver publishing and translating company, also faces trial in federal court in October on charges of forced labor, document servitude, and harboring an undocumented migrant worker.
In April, he and his wife Khonaizan, agreed to pay the nanny about $64,000 in wages to settle a Labor Department lawsuit. Al-Turki could also face restitution payments in the state case. The judge said he would rule on that later.
Khonaizan pleaded guilty to a federal immigration charge and a state theft charge. She was sentenced to home detention and probation in the federal case and two months in jail in the state case, and received a credit for the 15 days she already served in prison.
Her attorney, Forrest Lewis, has said she wants to return to Saudi Arabia and will not fight deportation, which Lewis expects will occur after her state sentence is completed.
The judge also sentenced her to five years of probation and 48 hours of community service.
She also pleaded guilty to federal charges of harboring an illegal immigrant. In exchange, prosecutors dropped several other charges, including kidnapping.
Dozens of members of the Denver area Muslim community, including Al-Turki’s family and the prayer leader of the state’s largest mosque, packed the courtroom. Many had written to the judge expressing support for Al-Turki. Other letters of support came from Al-Turki’s academic colleagues at the University of Colorado.
The NHRS’ Bagader said that setting aside the more serious charges related to sexual assault, he felt there were some cultural issues that may indeed be at play on some of the evidence related to illegal imprisonment, such as the allegation that Al-Turki was holding the maid’s passport.
“The American government and our government should work together to clarify to Saudis heading to the US for vacation or education purposes, who wish to take their housekeepers, what they should do and what they shouldn’t according to US law,” he said.
But, he added, the mistreatment of housekeepers is a problem in the Kingdom. “Our society needs to become more aware of housekeepers’ human rights,” he said. “We all know there are a lot of cases raised against Saudis for the abuse of housemaids.”
Legal adviser Mohammed Al-Abdali, however, said he felt like the sentence of 27 years to life is a “down point for the American courts that we used to respect and admire.”
“There was no justice in this case according to what we have learned,” said Al-Abdali. “To my knowledge, the evidence against him doesn’t hold up on both verdicts.
They used holding her passport, which most Saudis and GCC citizens do because a lot of housekeepers flee and tend to work for illegitimate networks, as evidence.”
Muslims cry fowl...
Allahu FUBAR!!
Mentally ill Muslims are adding so much to our universities. Even the most outrageous perversion is considered ok if someone thinks fast to call it "diversity."
Oh, yeah, that's understandable. If I don't hold onto the yard guy's passport, he flees. And when I hire painters, I make them leave their passports with me until they finish the job.
well gee they pay them two dollars a day and make them sleep on a lumpy matrres in the basement. Who would flee a dream job like that?
LOL
kill him.
"The state has criminalized these basic Muslim behaviors."
You ignorant, asinine Muslim ... Our laws were here first .. you friggin' jag-off.
You got caught, and your celly will be named 'tiny' and he fantasizes about middle eastern men.
Hee Heee Heeeeee Harrrrr Haaarrrrr !!!!
Yeah ... let me the f*** outa' here !
“The state has criminalized these basic Muslim behaviors. Attacking traditional Muslim behaviors was the focal point of the prosecution.”
Then get the word out that those who wish to practice "basic muslim behaviors" should simply stay out of our country.
Real simple. That the Saudi embassy doesn't make such matters clear to their emigrants, including penalties, is their own fault.
And they seem to understand, evidenced by the remarks.
I love this quote, "Al-Turki said he treated the woman the same way any observant Muslim family would treat a daughter".
That's the way "observant Muslims" treat their "daughters"!!!
"The state has criminalized these basic Muslim behaviors", like sleeping on a mattress on the basement floor, rape, beatings, slave wages. Such a bad state!
LOL
Saudi Arabia has criminalized quite a few basic Christian behaviors.
Yep, next thing you know someone is going to be denying the right of Mayan priests to rip the hearts out of sacrificial victims.
First they came for my slave. Then they came for my goat.
"That's the way "observant Muslims" treat their "daughters"!!!"
Ever heard of honor killings? Anyone who accepts that claim to mean anything remotely humane needs to do some thinking...
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