Saudi King pardons female rape victim

[Guchi_Jnr]

Saudi Arabia's King Abdullah has pardoned a teenage girl sentenced to six months in jail and 200 lashes after being gang-raped, Al Jazirah newspaper reports.
The ruling against the 19-year-old girl in the ultra-conservative Muslim kingdom had attracted widespread international condemnation, including from human rights groups and the White House.
The Arabic language daily said it had been informed of the royal pardon from its own unidentified sources.
But in the same article, the kingdom's Justice Minister Abdullah bin Mohammad bin Ibrahim al-Sheikh told the paper the king had the "right to overrule court judgements if he considered it benefiting the greater good".
The girl, who was 18 at the time she was raped, was attacked at knifepoint by seven men after she was found in a car with a male companion who was not a relative, in breach of strict Saudi law.
Her identity has not been revealed but she has become known as "Qatif girl," after the Shiite-populated area of Al-Qatif in the Eastern Province from which she comes.
In October 2006, a judge sentenced her to 90 lashes for being with the man - a taboo in the conservative Muslim kingdom which imposes segregation of the sexes.
She appealed against the sentence but despite her ordeal the court ruled that her punishment should be increased to 200 lashes and a six-month jail term.
The judges decided to punish the woman further for "her attempt to aggravate and influence the judiciary through the media," a court source told the English-language daily Arab News.
The rapists were initially sentenced to one to five years in jail, but those terms were also toughened in November to between two and nine years.
A rape conviction carries the death penalty in Saudi Arabia, but the court did not impose it due to the "lack of witnesses" and the "absence of confessions," the justice ministry said last month.
The court also revoked the licence of the woman's lawyer, who has also been summoned by the justice ministry to appear before a disciplinary panel.

[Ren]

Wait wait wait... Does that mean the King forgive her and let her go without the punishment? Or...?

Sorry if this question seems so stupid, but... English was never my strong point and this article just confuse the hell out of me. O_O

[Asmodai]

Wait wait wait... Does that mean the King forgive her and let her go without the punishment? Or...?

Yep. That's what pardoning means.

It's good she was pardoned, but it was only because of the media focus and outrage. I wonder how many times things like this happen without anyone noticing.

[Shirow]

This has been enforced for hundreds of years,  and it seems thats how most Islamic states function,   Islamic law (sharia) seems to be very harsh and also quite interpretational.
I find it quite strange that the Saudis implied that she was 'asking for it' ...   unless she wore a t-shirt saying 'gang rape me plz' ... which I highly doubt.

[Kuja]

Rape is never the victim's fault and it's really sad how much more cases like this there must be, that just don't get enough attention. Poor girl.

[xerony]

I was quite shocked when I read this in the newspaper. That people can be treated like that

[Gaijin22]

OMG I can't believe this story, it sounds like they think it's the girls fault... this is crazy.

[THUNDERDUCK]

When law & religion are one and the same.  The power of men there.
Mom- We need groceries, walk with me to the store.
Son- No
Mom- I'll buy you candy then
Son- OK, 2 hershey bars and you have a deal

[Odango]

I knew things like this existed sadly :/ But I never knew they actually punished the victim o.O That's just wrong on so many levels!!! But I'm glad she got justice. Hopefully this will bring more attention to the matter, and other girls won't have to go through what she did.

[Shirow]

I knew things like this existed sadly :/ But I never knew they actually punished the victim o.O That's just wrong on so many levels!!! But I'm glad she got justice. Hopefully this will bring more attention to the matter, and other girls won't have to go through what she did.

Considering Saudi Arabia has one of the worst human rights records on Earth I highly doubt thing will change in our lifetime,   also considering the amount of money connections there are with America and Europe ...  the goverments (UN) will continue to ignore such serious issues incase it hurts diplomatic (money) relationships.
 

[Ren]

Yep. That's what pardoning means.

Thanks.

I'm so glad for that girl. Regarding asking for it, a friend of mine is an Islam and she visited Saudi Arabia before, after she returned here, she told me that one guy tried to hit on her mom, who is wearing the normal Islam wear and the only thing that guy can see is her mom's eyes. It's like asking a date with a fully masked ninja which you can't even know the face, the age, etc...

[Odango]

I knew things like this existed sadly :/ But I never knew they actually punished the victim o.O That's just wrong on so many levels!!! But I'm glad she got justice. Hopefully this will bring more attention to the matter, and other girls won't have to go through what she did.

Considering Saudi Arabia has one of the worst human rights records on Earth I highly doubt thing will change in our lifetime,   also considering the amount of money connections there are with America and Europe ...  the goverments (UN) will continue to ignore such serious issues incase it hurts diplomatic (money) relationships.
 

That's really lame >.> Quality of human life should be priceless, and no dollar amount should justify these actions against woman.

I think everyone in college should take an international politics class. I had that for one semester and it opened my eyes sooo much as to how many things go on in the world that people are, for the most part, unaware of. It's really sad actually :/

[Shirow]

I knew things like this existed sadly :/ But I never knew they actually punished the victim o.O That's just wrong on so many levels!!! But I'm glad she got justice. Hopefully this will bring more attention to the matter, and other girls won't have to go through what she did.

Considering Saudi Arabia has one of the worst human rights records on Earth I highly doubt thing will change in our lifetime,   also considering the amount of money connections there are with America and Europe ...  the goverments (UN) will continue to ignore such serious issues incase it hurts diplomatic (money) relationships.
 

That's really lame >.> Quality of human life should be priceless, and no dollar amount should justify these actions against woman.

I think everyone in college should take an international politics class. I had that for one semester and it opened my eyes sooo much as to how many things go on in the world that people are, for the most part, unaware of. It's really sad actually :/

International politics  should be mandatory,  it should come before math.
The main problem is down to pure ignorance,  a majority of populations are unaware of what goes on in various parts of the world.
But people who are 'westernized' are now essentially living inside a consumerism bubble,  too busy to take notice of anything outside their own home.
The simple remedy for all of this is knowledge,  and the powers that be... censor a majorty of media outlets because it would cause civil unrest.
Its also interesting that if I say the word 'genocide' people will automatically assume I mean the holocaust,  yet 2 events of genocide have happened in the past 15 years (Darfur/Bosnia).
Rant over.

[Asmodai]

To play devil's advocate a moment, why should international politics be mandatory?

I know about the genocide in Darfur, but I can't do a thing to change it. All it does is make me unhappy. Same for problems in the middle east, the torture of monks in Burma, China's ethnic cleansing of Tibetians, etc.

There's nothing I can do about any of those things. Awareness is pretty much irrelevant on an individual level. There's really no reason for people to step outside their 'bubble' because even if they did, it wouldn't matter and it wouldn't change anything.

[Shirow]

To play devil's advocate a moment, why should international politics be mandatory?

I know about the genocide in Darfur, but I can't do a thing to change it. All it does is make me unhappy. Same for problems in the middle east, the torture of monks in Burma, China's ethnic cleansing of Tibetians, etc.

There's nothing I can do about any of those things. Awareness is pretty much irrelevant on an individual level. There's really no reason for people to step outside their 'bubble' because even if they did, it wouldn't matter and it wouldn't change anything.

I 100% completely disagree,   that type of thinking is pure apathy,  individuals can change everything,   Malcom X was an individual who changed a massive amount in regards to the landscape for black rights,  Martin luther king, Mohandas Gandhi, Che Guevara,  the Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini brought down the entire kingdom of Iran,  the list can go on and all of them serve as examples of how a single 'normal' person can make a difference.
Personally Ive only taken part in a few  anti war rallies but I feel that everything helps.
Admittidly the concept of changing laws and changing political practise is very daunting,   but sitting there being apathetic and pessimistic is the core reason why shit gets worse.

[ctz]

There's nothing I can do about any of those things. Awareness is pretty much irrelevant on an individual level. There's really no reason for people to step outside their 'bubble' because even if they did, it wouldn't matter and it wouldn't change anything.

In a democratic system, more aware individuals should mean some changes on a political level as well... So I think there's reason to know something about these things...