Rageworthy story
Monday, 17th December, 2007
Well, it’s good news, in one sense. “Saudi king pardons rape victim” according to the BBC.
You read that correctly. The headline did indeed say victim, not perpetrator.
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.
This man and woman were in a car when they were abducted and raped by seven men.
The “Qatif girl” case caused an international outcry with widespread criticism of the Saudi justice system
The words “laughably named” could fit snugly in that sentence between Saudi and justice.
The less “good news” aspects of this story are that the halfway-sane outcome is only the result of pressure from the west and that the pardon does not imply that there was any error on the court’s decision. There is no reason to assume that such sentences won’t be passed in the future.
The custodial sentence plus 200 lashes was imposed after the woman, who has not been named, appealed against an earlier sentence of 90 lashes.
She dared to appeal. Her sentence was more than doubled. The man - who you will note was also raped - was also sentenced to 90 lashes. The BBC doesn’t know if he was “pardoned” too and I wouldn’t hold out much hope on this showing.
The pardon was said not to imply any criticism of the sentence. It was just supposed to be the King expressing some seasonal goodwill for Eid al-Adha. Well done, your highness. According to the BBC, he’s been criticised on some conservative websites for the pardon, which is seen as kowtowing to the west. Words fail.
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