Arab News, Jeddah/Riyadh/Dhahran, 12 February 2002

Businessman ordered caned for disrupting chamber polls

By a Staff Writer

JEDDAH, 12 February - A summary court in Abha sentenced a local businessman to 40 lashes in public for causing disturbances during the elections to the local chamber last month. The businessman, a member of the Tatwir Group, was found guilty of obstructing the smooth conduct of the elections to the Abha Chamber of Commerce and Industry. He was also charged with behaving rudely to a rival candidate which was the initial cause of commotion in the election hall.

The dispute was referred to the court after all efforts for an out-of-court settlement failed.

Reading out his verdict, the judge gave the plaintiff the right to witness the caning. He can pardon the guilty if he chooses so.

According to a court source, either party can appeal the verdict.

Under Saudi regulations, any sentence less than 40 lashes and 10 days' imprisonment should be considered as final and therefore cannot be appealed at a higher court.

The businessman allegedly abused and spat at the leader of the rival Mustaqbil group in the presence of hundreds of chamber members waiting to cast their vote.

Police intervened to break up the scuffle that ensued, but the situation remained tense as they refused to arrest the alleged troublemaker. Calm was restored only after the direct interventions by the governor's office.

Both the parties are dissatisfied with the verdict because the plaintiff believes that the suspect deserved a harsher punishment including imprisonment. On the other hand, the defendant believes that the judgment is totally unjustified and that he should be acquitted.

The Tatwir and the Mustaqbil are the main groups that contested the chamber elections in Abha in which the latter group won most of the seats.

Washington Post, 17 February 2002

S. Arabia Man to Get 4,750 Lashes

RIYADH, Saudi Arabia -- A Saudi court has sentenced a man to six years in prison and 4,750 lashes for having sex with his wife's sister, a newspaper reported Sunday.

The woman involved in the case was sentenced to six months in jail and 65 lashes, the paper Al-Eqtisadiah reported, though the court found she had not consented to the relationship. She had also reported the affair to the police.

Having a relationship with one's in-law is considered a serious offense under the strict Islamic judicial code that Saudi Arabia follows.

The court, in the port city of Jiddah, ordered that the lashes be administered to the man at a rate of 95 at a time.

Lashes are often handed out by Saudi courts, although rarely in such large numbers.

The court also ruled he was not eligible for a pardon "because of the ugliness and seriousness of his crime."

Arab News, Jeddah/Riyadh/Dhahran, 23 February 2002

60 flogged for harassing women

By a Staff Writer

RIYADH, 23 February - Sixty men, including eight expatriates, found guilty of harassing women in public places were flogged in various parts of Riyadh, Al-Riyadh newspaper reported yesterday. The 60 men received 15 lashes each. Punishments were carried out at Olaya, Aziziah, Malaz, Derah, Nassim, Batha, Sahfa and Al-Eraeja police stations.