BillCosby

What a nice guy the King is...





The Saudi king has pardoned a female rape victim sentenced to jail and 200 lashes for being alone with a man raped in the same attack, reports say.

The "Qatif girl" case caused an international outcry with widespread criticism of the Saudi justice system.

The male and female victims were in a car together when they were abducted and raped by seven attackers, who were given jail sentences up to nine years.

Press reports say King Abdullah's move did not mean the sentence was wrong.

Quoted by the Jazirah newspaper, Justice Minister Abdullah al-Sheikh said the king had the right to issue pardons if it served the public interest.

Women in Saudi Arabia are not allowed to mix with men who are not close family members.

The custodial sentence plus 200 lashes was imposed after the woman, who has not been named, appealed against an earlier sentence of 90 lashes.

'Astonishing' case

The Saudi king frequently pardons criminals at the Eid al-Adha festival which takes place this week, but correspondents say that is usually announced by the official press agency.

The BBC's Heba Saleh says the king's decision to pardon the woman victim is already arousing controversy with some contributors to conservative websites, who say he has breached the rules of religion in order to appease critics in the West.

The US had called the punishment "astonishing", although it refused to condemn the Saudi justice system.

Human rights groups had been calling on King Abdullah, who has a reputation as a pro-Western reformer, to change it.

The justice ministry recently rejected what it saw as "foreign interference" in the case and insisted the ruling was legal and that the woman had confessed to having an affair with her fellow rape victim.

Earlier, the woman - who is a Shia Muslim from the Qatif area - had reportedly said she met the man in order to retrieve a photograph of them together, having herself recently got married.

She says two other men then entered the car and took them to a secluded area where others were waiting, and both she and her male companion were raped.

The woman's companion was sentenced to 90 lashes. It is not known if his sentence was also lifted.

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Preventive war is not war!!!!Counter-terror is not terror

Heretic

I guess he's realized that his country coming across as medievil is a negative in terms of PR. I doubt very much he honestly cares about the victim so much as he's trying to look progressive without actually being progressive.

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"Enough!!" -so rang Barack Obama's voice off the walls of Mile High Stadium

Teri B.

I heard about this on NPR this morning and was relieved. They may still punish this poor girl in reality; her barbaric, fucking medieval family may murder her or throw acid on her. At least they're making some effort to hide their enslavement of women from the rest of the world, disgusting, freakin' impotent, tiny-dicked bunch of masochistic cavemen.

BillCosby

I wonder how many lashes a progressive king thinks she should get for being raped.????

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Preventive war is not war!!!!Counter-terror is not terror

cheapseats

I Dream of Jeannie meets I Dream of Jihad.

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Heretic

More like Stepford Wife meets Stealth Wife. The first is seen and heard as the husband wishes and the second is sorta seen and never heard.

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"Enough!!" -so rang Barack Obama's voice off the walls of Mile High Stadium

cheapseats

First Robot meets Latest Acquisition

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anhailla

[quote=Teri B.;46265]



what's with the white ribbon on her black shroud? I assume it doesn't stand for human rights.

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...either I go, or that wallpaper does.

Oscar Wilde

cheapseats

[quote=anhailla;48289]I have been wondering about that, as well, and have narrowed it down to three possibilities:

1. Iraqi women's secret code for UNCLE

2. Her death sentence, for recklessly showing the skin of her hands

3. Iraqi lint

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anhailla

[quote=cheapseats;48293]hahahahaha..."Iraqi lint"

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...either I go, or that wallpaper does.

Oscar Wilde