WUNRN
SAUDI ARABIA - SAUDI COURT SENTENCES
AGE 75 WOMAN TO 40 LASHES
& 4 MONTHS IN JAIL, FOR MINGLING
WITH NON-FAMILY MEN
By
MAGGIE MICHAEL-Associated Press Writer
CAIRO March 9, 2009 (AP)
A
75-year-old widow in Saudi Arabia has been sentenced to 40 lashes and four
months in jail for mingling with two young men who are not close relatives,
drawing new criticism for the kingdom's ultraconservative religious police and
judiciary.
The woman's lawyer told The Associated Press on Monday that he would appeal the verdict against Khamisa Sawadi, who is Syrian but was married to a Saudi. The attorney, Abdel Rahman al-Lahem, said the verdict issued March 3 also demands that Sawadi be deported after serving her sentence.
He said his client, who is not serving her sentence yet, was not speaking with the media, and he declined to provide more details about the case.
The newspaper Al-Watan said the woman met with the two 24-year-old men last April after she asked them to bring her five loaves of bread at her home in al-Chamil, a city north of the capital, Riyadh.
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