Saudi court upholds blogger's 10 years and 1,000 lashes

[galdur]

Saudi court upholds blogger's 10 years and 1,000 lashes

7 June 2015
 
Raif Badawi's family have warned he could die if the 1,000 lashes are carried out
Saudi Arabia's Supreme Court has upheld the sentence of 1,000 lashes and 10 years of imprisonment on blogger Raif Badawi, despite a foreign outcry.
Speaking from Canada, his wife Ensaf Haidar told the BBC she feared his punishment would start again on Friday.
Badawi was arrested in 2012 for "insulting Islam through electronic channels".
Saudi authorities sent his case for review amidst global protests, after the first round of lashes in January.
For four years Badawi ran the Liberal Saudi Network, which encouraged online debate on religious and political issues.
Ms Haidar said she had held high hopes that her husband was about to be released, but he remained less optimistic.
When they last spoke three days ago he told her not to expect him home in the near future.
She called on the countries and rights groups that had campaigned for her husband's release to mobilise once more.
Amnesty International activists held a protest demanding the release of blogger Raif Badawi in front of the Saudi Arabian embassy in Berlin on 22 May 2015
Protests were held following Badawi's first flogging by the kingdom
Badawi received his first 50 lashes in January, but subsequent floggings have been postponed.
A shaky video taken on a mobile phone showed Badawi being lashed by a member of the security forces.
The footage prompted international protests which were repeated every Friday, the scheduled day for the beatings.
In March, the kingdom expressed "surprise and dismay" at international criticism over the punishment.
At the time, the foreign ministry issued a statement saying it rejected interference in its internal affairs.
It is not clear why Badawi has not yet endured a second round though a medical report found he was not fit for the punishment.
Saudi Arabia enforces a strict version of Islamic law and does not tolerate political dissent. It has some of the highest social media usage rates in the region, and has cracked down on domestic online criticism.

http://www.bbc.com/news/world-middle-east-33039815

[spazzdla]

Islam... what a plague to this planet.  In fact all religions have brought nothing but pain, torture and death.

[bryant.coleman]

Things seems to have worsened in Saudi Arabia, ever since the new King (Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud) took over. The previous king (Abdullah bin Abdulaziz Al Saud) was certainly not a saint, but he was at least better than the current one. Some of the disturbing signals from Saudi Arabia, since the new King took over the reigns:

http://www.mintpressnews.com/number-of-saudi-arabian-executions-beheading-soar-in-2015/206139/

http://english.alarabiya.net/en/views/news/middle-east/2015/06/08/Saudi-Arabia-and-Iran-heading-to-war-.html

http://www.bbc.com/news/world-middle-east-33036136
 

[BRE]

Barbaric Law, without oil Saudi would be equivalent internationally to North Korea.

[galdur]

What is it that causes this great and eternal love between the U.S. and Saudi regimes? Apart from both always being manned by certifiable fruitcakes of course. Or maybe that´s just it. It can´t be just oil.

[ThEmporium]

Islam... what a plague to this planet.  In fact all religions have brought nothing but pain, torture and death.

Have you ever read about Islam in your life, do not talk about any religion unless you have gone through. Islam is a religion chosen by God. Islam teaches the way of practicing every day life. Do not jump on conclusion about Islam just by the way of erratic attitude of some people in Islamic community. They are humans not angels that they do not make any mistakes. However, nowhere I support Saudi Arabia the way they handle foreign relations.

[BADecker]

Islam... what a plague to this planet.  In fact all religions have brought nothing but pain, torture and death.

Have you ever read about Islam in your life, do not talk about any religion unless you have gone through. Islam is a religion chosen by God. Islam teaches the way of practicing every day life. Do not jump on conclusion about Islam just by the way of erratic attitude of some people in Islamic community. They are humans not angels that they do not make any mistakes. However, nowhere I support Saudi Arabia the way they handle foreign relations.

Oh sure.

If the wife didn't protest her husband's treatment, she would be accused by Islamic law of rebelling against her husband, and the sentence would likely have been death for her. The Muslim Brotherhood of Canada would have assassinated her. Poor lady. Caught between a rock and a hard place.

[jaysabi]

What is it that causes this great and eternal love between the U.S. and Saudi regimes? Apart from both always being manned by certifiable fruitcakes of course. Or maybe that´s just it. It can´t be just oil.

There's no other reason to be interested in the area. Oil is the only asset they have which interests the US. Our interest in the Middle East really can be that simple.

[galdur]

What is it that causes this great and eternal love between the U.S. and Saudi regimes? Apart from both always being manned by certifiable fruitcakes of course. Or maybe that´s just it. It can´t be just oil.

There's no other reason to be interested in the area. Oil is the only asset they have which interests the US. Our interest in the Middle East really can be that simple.

Yes, and those who don´t play ball get bombed into oblivion. That´s behavior you´d expect from psychopaths. But how in the hell is there a constant supply of retards/psychopaths to always vote those psychopaths into office?

[keyscore44]

I'm sure we can expect condemnation from Obama sometime soon......maybe not. Must be nice being an ally to the US, you can get away with murder with zero repercussions. Money talks

[bryant.coleman]

What is it that causes this great and eternal love between the U.S. and Saudi regimes? Apart from both always being manned by certifiable fruitcakes of course. Or maybe that´s just it. It can´t be just oil.

The Saudis (and the other GCC countries such as Qatar, Kuwait, UAE and Bahrain) are part of the grand NATO alliance against the Iran-Russia-China axis. The Saudis and the Americans are interdependent on each other. The former needs military support from the latter, to protect itself against the Iranians and from the native Saudi Shiite population. And the latter needs oil from the former.

[galdur]

Well, this Saudi medieval garbage heap has beheaded like a hundred people so far this year. You know how the fruitcakes in charge in the U.S. and mass media whores there always are up in arms over some terriers over there in the M.E. that chop heads off people. I guess it´s much more tasteful though if it´s done by junk that smells just like you and is just as psychotic anyway.

[fiN.]

Islam... what a plague to this planet.  In fact all religions have brought nothing but pain, torture and death.

People are the plague not Islam. Islam is just a convenient scapegoat, but all religions belong in the darkages but some people refuse to move with the times.

[BADecker]

Islam... what a plague to this planet.  In fact all religions have brought nothing but pain, torture and death.

People are the plague not Islam. Islam is just a convenient scapegoat, but all religions belong in the darkages but some people refuse to move with the times.

Especially the religion of non-religion belongs to the dark ages. But Stalin, Hitler, Mao and many others used it.

[okae]

is always sad to read things like that, this remember me North Korea

What is it that causes this great and eternal love between the U.S. and Saudi regimes? Apart from both always being manned by certifiable fruitcakes of course. Or maybe that´s just it. It can´t be just oil.

beleive me this will never happend, U.S have other interest that being friend like you sayd, oil...

[galdur]

is always sad to read things like that, this remember me North Korea

What is it that causes this great and eternal love between the U.S. and Saudi regimes? Apart from both always being manned by certifiable fruitcakes of course. Or maybe that´s just it. It can´t be just oil.

beleive me this will never happend, U.S have other interest that being friend like you sayd, oil...

I´m curious about those thousand lashes. Probably they don´t dish that out in full in a single session or so I hope for the guy´s sake. Maybe it´s in installments, half a dozen per day something like that ?

[Okurkabinladin]

Barbaric Law, without oil Saudi would be equivalent internationally to North Korea.

It wouldnt. Obama doesnt get it from behind from N. Korea.

I always laugh, when westerners are apalled by the fact, that "Gay pride" isnt allowed in Russia, yet they submissively crawl before feudals, who execute people for sexuality in broad daylight.

[galdur]

Amazing. This is like the fu##### fourth century. And fruitcakes in charge of countries all over the world actually have diplomatic relations with these people. Staggering.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Saudi law allows the death penalty for many crimes. For example:

Adultery (Unmarried adulterers can be sentenced to 100 lashes, married ones can be sentenced to stoning.)
Apostasy (Apostates are sentenced to beheading but are usually given three days to repent and return to Islam.)
Armed robbery
Blasphemy
Burglary
Carjacking
Aircraft hijacking
Drug smuggling
Fornication
Home invasion
Sodomy, homosexuality, or lesbianism (If a man or woman is sodomized by their own consent, then they will also be sentenced to death along with the sodomizer)
Idolatry
Murder
Rape
Sedition
Sexual misconduct
Sorcery
Terrorism
Theft (fourth conviction)
Treason
Waging war on God
Witchcraft

[UliJonHoth]

I´m curious about those thousand lashes. Probably they don´t dish that out in full in a single session or so I hope for the guy´s sake. Maybe it´s in installments, half a dozen per day something like that ?

Yeah, they'll break them up over who knows how many sessions, reminds me of the kid that got caught tagging in Singapore in the 90s and was sentenced to being caned 4 times

The 19-year-old American who was caned in Singapore for vandalism said today that the bleeding it caused was "like a bloody nose."

The teen-ager, Michael P. Fay, said in an interview that the four strokes with a rattan cane on May 5 had left three dark-brown scars on his right buttock and four lines each about half-an-inch wide on his left buttock.

In his first description of the caning, Mr. Fay said that prison officials told him he shouted, "I'm dying," when the first stroke was delivered. He said he could not remember making the cry.

He said a prison officer stood beside him and guided him through the ordeal, saying: "O.K. Michael, three left. O.K., Michael, two left. O.K., one more; you're almost done."

The Government of Singapore has defended the punishment as a traditional part of the country's legal system. The caning strained Singapore's relations with the United States and has been seen as largely responsible for the United States' voting against holding the first summit meeting of the World Trade Organization in Singapore next year.

After confessing to vandalism, Mr. Fay was sentenced to four months in jail and six strokes with a half-inch-thick rattan cane on two counts of vandalism and possession of stolen road signs. The sentence was later reduced to four strokes.

After his confession, Mr. Fay contended that he had been coerced by police officers into saying he had spray-painting cars. The Government of Singapore denied that.

Mr. Fay had lived with his mother and stepfather in Singapore since 1992 and had attended the Singapore-American School. After being freed from prison on Tuesday, he returned to his father's home in this suburb of Dayton. Description of Caning

He said he had first looked at the scars in a mirror only two days ago. "I got a shiver down my back," he said, "and I couldn't believe I might have them for the rest of my life."

Mr. Fay said the caning, which he estimated took one minute, left a "few streaks of blood" running down his buttocks. But his description appeared less horrific than accounts of caning in the past.

"The skin did rip open," he said. "There was some blood. I mean let's not exaggerate, and let's not say a few drops or that the blood was gushing out. It was in between the two. It's like a bloody nose."

Mr. Fay said the wounds hurt for about five days, after which they itched as they healed. "The first couple of days it was very hard to sit," he said.

He said that he was able to walk immediately after the caning and that in the days after the punishment he was able to do push-ups.

Mr. Fay said he now wanted get on with finishing high school and then go to college "like any other kid in America."

http://www.nytimes.com/1994/06/26/us/us-student-tells-of-pain-of-his-caning-in-singapore.html

[galdur]

The caning strained Singapore's relations with the United States and has been seen as largely responsible for the United States' voting against holding the first summit meeting of the World Trade Organization in Singapore next year.