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SAUDI ARABIA - UPDATE -
FLOGGING/LASHES & PRISON SENTENCING
OF 75-YEAR OLD WOMAN NOT YET CARRIED
OUT - CALL FOR INTERVENTIONS
The Hail Emirate has received official orders to implement the recent sentence handed down against the defendants in the case of Khamisa Sawadi, issued by members of the Committee to Promote Virtue and Prevent Vice in the City of Shamli (170 kilometers south of Hail), which was known in the media as 'The case of the elderly woman of Shamli'. Saudi sources have confirmed to Emirati newspaper, Gulf News, that the woman is still in her house and the sentence has not been carried out yet.
The Director of Public Relations in Hail Emirate, Khaled Alojaan, declared in an official statement obtained by the Agency of Saudi Society that "the competent authority had previously received reports of a woman visited frequently by non-mahram men with whom she went out to unknown destinations."
Khaled Alojaan pointed out that "the regulations necessitated by the competent authorities to accept those reports of incidents according to article no. 27 of the Criminal Procedure Code; during the periodic field work on 14/4/1424 the competent authority received a communication informing it that the two men had entered the woman's house. Moving to the incident site, two men were seen emerging from her home. They were stopped and were then handed to the interrogation authorities. The two men produced a complaint and a committee was constituted of four government bodies to investigate the incident. The Committee concluded that the procedures were correct and charged the two men and the woman with "khilwa", and referred them to the competent court which convicted them of this practice and ordered their punishment."
Possible options
Meanwhile, Saudi sources noted that there are other possible options that might
be considered other than implementing the sentence. They include pardoning her
or stopping the implementation of the sentence after receiving a medical report
stating that the elderly woman's health does not allow the execution. The
sentence could also be carried out without inflicting pain, considering her
age.
The flogging and imprisonment sentences against Mrs Khamisa Sawadi and two Saudi men were upheld by the country's appeal court. Many Saudi newspapers last month published a statement in which the Saudi interior minister ordered the implementation of the sentence against the three. According to the statement, the woman has faced two similar sentences in the past that were also upheld by the appeal court. On 14 December, Amnesty International issued a statement urging the Saudi authorities not to carry out the sentence.
Background
The woman, identified as Syrian national Khamisa Mohammad Sawadi, along with
two Saudi Arabian men known only as Fahd and Hadyan were found guilty in March
2009 of being in the company of members of the opposite sex who are not close
relatives (known as khilwa).
At their first trial, Fahd and Hadyan stated in their defence that they were delivering bread to Khamisa. Fahd argued that the offence of khilwa did not apply since he was related to Khamisa, who had breastfed him when he was a child. The court, however, rejected this argument.
One of the reasons for the rejection was that her youngest son is 10 years older than Fahd, a source said. Khamisa and Fahd were sentenced to 40 lashes and four months' imprisonment each, and Hadyan to 60 lashes and six months' imprisonment.
The woman was also sentenced to be deported to her native Syria on completion of her prison term.
Source:
WLUML
Networkers/Gulf News/Amnesty International
______________________________________________________________________
SAUDI ARABIA: 75-YEAR OLD WOMAN
FACES FLOGGING - 40 LASHES
14 December 2009
The Saudi Arabian authorities must not carry out the imminent flogging and imprisonment of an elderly woman and two younger men, Amnesty International said today.
The Minister of Interior is reported to have ordered the immediate detention and flogging of a 75-year-old woman, Khamisa Mohammed Sawadi, along with two Saudi Arabian men known only as Fahad and Hadyan.
All three were found guilty in March 2009 of being in the company of members of the opposite sex who are not close relatives, known as khilwa. The verdict was subsequently upheld by a court of appeal. Attempts to lodge an appeal at the Supreme Court were recently rejected.
If imprisoned Amnesty International would consider all three to be prisoners of conscience as the organization considers the criminalization of khilwa to be a violation of the right to freedom of expression and to privacy as set out in international human rights standards.
“It is abhorrent that an elderly woman is at risk of 40 lashes. The flogging of any individual is cruel and inhumane,” said Philip Luther, Deputy Director of Amnesty International’s Middle East and North Africa Programme. “We urge the authorities to prevent the imprisonment and flogging of Khamisa, Fahad and Hadyan.”
Khamisa Mohammed Sawadi and Fahad were sentenced to 40 lashes and four months’ imprisonment, and Hadyan to 60 lashes and six months’ imprisonment. Khamisa Mohammed Sawadi was also sentenced to be returned to her native country Syria on completion of her prison term.
Background
Khamisa Mohammed Sawadi, Fahad and Hadyan were arrested on 21 April 2008 by
members of the Commission for Promotion of Virtue and Prevention of Vice (also
known as the Mutawa’een or religious police).
At their first trial, Fahad and Hadyan stated in their defence that they were delivering bread to Khamisa Mohammed Sawadi. Fahad argued that the offence of khilwa did not apply since he was related to Khamisa Mohammed Sawadi, who breastfed him when he was a child. The court, however, rejected this argument.
Flogging is mandatory in Saudi Arabia for a number of offences and can also be used at the discretion of judges as an alternative or in addition to other punishments.
Sentences can range from dozens to tens of thousands of lashes, and are usually carried out in instalments, at intervals ranging from two weeks to one month. The highest number of lashes imposed in a single case recorded by Amnesty International was 40,000 lashes. They were imposed this year in a case of a man tried on murder charges.
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