Saudi court ups punishment for gang-rape victim

[Big!]

(CNN) -- A court in Saudi Arabia increased the punishment for a gang-rape victim after her lawyer won an appeal of the sentence for the rapists, the lawyer told CNN.

The 19-year-old victim was sentenced last year to 90 lashes for meeting with an unrelated male, a former friend from whom she was retrieving photographs. The seven rapists, who abducted the pair and raped both, received sentences ranging from 10 months to five years in prison.

The victim's attorney, Abdulrahman al-Lahim, contested the rapists' sentence, contending there is a fatwa, or edict under Islamic law, that considers such crimes Hiraba (sinful violent crime) and the punishment should be death.

"After a year, the preliminary court changed the punishment and made it two to nine years for the defendants," al-Lahim said of the new decision handed down Wednesday. "However, we were shocked that they also changed the victim's sentence to be six months in prison and 200 lashes."


Full Story: http://www.cnn.com/2007/WORLD/meast/11/17/saudi.rape.victim/index.html

I realize the Saudi's have their own culture and all, but I just don't get this. How can they justify punishing the victim of a rape? Why is it here fault? This is ridiculous. Does the entire Arab world still live in the 13th century? No offense intended, it's just a question. Please help me understand.

Big!

[fatuma]

Does the entire Arab world still live in the 13th century?




not all...Egypt is already in the 18th :cool:

[Rudolf]

It's very sad when you see that crimes are committed under the guise of religious beliefs and that those same religions also protect those who commit the crimes.

[Big!]

Punishing victims is a crime in itself. Why are women still considered second class citizens in so many parts of the world?

Big!

[Alex]

It's sickening.

[Big!]

Here's the link to the follow up story by CNN. The Saudi Arabian government claims it punished the rape victim because she spoke about the case to the media.

Saudi: Why we punished rape victim (http://www.cnn.com/2007/WORLD/meast/11/20/saudi.rape.victim/index.html)

Big!

[c4m]

Wierd. Religion, drugs, and money: IMO the 3 things that really fuck up the world.

[Big!]

Update on Punished Saudi Rape Victim:



Saudi FM: Court to review sentence

RIYADH, Saudi Arabia (AP) -- A Saudi court will review the case of a teenage gang rape victim sentenced to jail and flogging after she was convicted of violating the country's strict sex segregation laws, the foreign minister said Tuesday.

The remarks by Prince Saud al-Faisal, made in the United States and carried by the official Saudi Press Agency, were the latest in response to a salvo of international condemnation of Saudi judicial authorities' handling of the case.

It was also a sharp turn from a statement Saturday in which the Saudi Justice Ministry condemned the 19-year-old woman as an adulteress who had allegedly confessed to cheating on her husband. She was raped by seven men and then sentenced to six months prison and 200 lashes.

In the statement, the ministry said the flogging sentence would be carried out and condemned foreign interference. The statement likely sought to ease international outrage over the case by discrediting the woman.

On Tuesday, SPA quoted al-Faisal as saying "the Saudi judiciary will review the case."

But al-Faisal was also on the defensive and maintained the case was being used against Saudi authorities.

"What is outraging about this case is that it is being used against the Saudi government and people," he said, speaking in Annapolis, Maryland, where he was attending the U.S.-hosted Mideast peace conference.

Known only as the "Girl from Qatif," the victim said she was a newlywed who was meeting a high school friend in his car to retrieve a picture of herself from him when the attack occurred in the eastern city of Qatif in 2006.

While she was in the car, two men got into the vehicle and drove them to a secluded area where others waited, and then she was raped.

The ministry's account Saturday alleged that the woman and her lover met in his car for a tryst "in a dark place where they stayed for a while."

The girl was initially sentenced to prison and 90 lashes for being alone with a man not related to her. An appeals court then doubled the lashes to 200.

The increase in sentence received heavy coverage in the international media and prompted expressions of astonishment from the U.S. government. Canada called it "barbaric."

Under Saudi Arabia's strict interpretation of Islamic Sharia law, women are not allowed in public in the ******* of men other than their male relatives. Also, women in Saudi Arabia are often sentenced to flogging and even death for adultery and other crimes.

The seven men convicted of gang raping the woman were given prison sentences of two to nine years.

The case has sparked rare domestic debate about the Saudi legal system, which gives judges wide discretion in sentencing and where rules of evidence are shaky and sometimes no lawyers are present.

Justice in Saudi Arabia is administered by a system of religious courts and judges appointed by the king on the recommendation of the Supreme Judicial Council. Those courts and judges have complete discretion to set sentences, except in cases where Sharia outlines a punishment, such as capital crimes.

That means that no two judges would likely hand down the same sentence for similar crimes. A rapist, for instance, could receive anywhere from a light or no sentence to death, depending on the judge's discretion.