[mukto-mona] INSIDE SHARIA-COURT - 7

SAUDI SHARIA COURT

SUPPORT & PROTEST

1.  Saudi Arabia defends verdict sentencing rape victim to jail, lashes

The Associated Press

Published: November 20, 2007

http://www.iht.com/articles/ap/2007/11/20/africa/ME-GEN-Saudi-Rape.php

RIYADH, Saudi Arabia:

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. But the Saudi judiciary stood by its decision on Tuesday. "The Ministry of Justice welcomes constructive criticism, away from emotions," it said in a statement. The statement also said that the "charges were proven" against the woman for having been in a car with unrelated male, and repeated criticism of her lawyer for talking "defiantly" about the judicial system, saying "he has shown ignorance." Because he reached out to the media, the court has banned lawyer Abdul Rahman al-Lahem from further defending the woman, confiscating his license and summoning him to a disciplinary hearing later this month. The justice ministry implied the victim's sentence was increased because she had spoken out to the press. "For whoever has an objection on verdicts issued, the system allows to appeal without resorting to the media," said the statement carried on the official Saudi Press Agency

 

PROTEST

 

1 USA

The Associated Press

Published: November 20, 2007

 

http://www.iht.com/articles/ap/2007/11/20/africa/ME-GEN-Saudi-Rape.php

While declining to directly criticize the Saudi Arabia's judiciary, U.S. State Department spokesman Sean McCormack said :"I think when you look at the crime and the fact that now the victim is punished, I think that causes a fair degree of surprise and astonishment." "But it is within the power of the Saudi government to take a look at the verdict and change it," McCormack said.

    2.      CANADA

http://www.iht.com/articles/ap/2007/11/20/africa/ME-GEN-Saudi-Rape.php

On Monday, Canada said it would complain to Saudi authorities about the sentence, described as "barbaric" by Jose Verger, the Canadian minister responsible for the status of women.

 

   3.    NEW ZEALAND.

http://tvnz.co.nz/view/page/536641/1457995

 

Clark shocked at Saudi sentence

Nov 22, 2007 6:38 AM

Prime Minister Helen Clark is asking New Zealand diplomats to express dismay at the case of a young Saudi woman, who was sentenced to be lashed and jailed for being raped. The woman was abducted from a shopping mall with an unrelated male companion, and she was raped by seven men. Under Saudi Arabia's Islamic Sharia law, women are not allowed out in public with men they are not related to. The woman was sentenced to 200 lashes and six months in jail. Clark says she understands the case is still working its way through the court system, but wants our diplomats in the region to seek compassion for the young woman.  The seven men convicted of rape were sentenced to between two and nine

 

4.  HUMAN RIGHTS ORGS.

http://www.iht.com/articles/ap/2007/11/20/africa/ME-GEN-Saudi-Rape.php

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."

 

 

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http://www.mukto-mona.com/human_rights/university_teachers_arrest.htm

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http://www.mukto-mona.com/news/daily_star/daily_star_MM.pdf

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MM site is blocked in Islamic countries such as UAE. Members of those theocratic states, kindly use any proxy (such as http://proxy.org/) to access mukto-mona.

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