Professional Documents
Culture Documents
in Saudi Arabia
Its been quite a day of developments with our friends in the Kingdom of Saudi
Arabia.
Its not quite clear how many lashes he was sentenced to his family say he was
sentenced to 350, but Whitehall sources have told FactCheck it was 79.
His family said there was no doubt in our mind that 350 lashes will kill him.
With Mr Camerons intervention, it is unlikely they will take place.
Why lashes?
Justice in Saudi Arabia follows the Kingdoms intepretation of Islamic law.
Scholars say there are six crimes in Islamic law which fall under hudud, or
crimes against god each with a specific punishment.
Drinking intoxicants is punishable by 80 lashes. There is also theft (punishable by
amputation of the hand); illicit sexual relations (death by stoning, or 100 lashes);
making unproven accusations of illicit sex (80 lashes); apostasy (death or
banishment); and highway robbery (death sentence).
Sentences are usually carried out with a cane or a whip to the back.
Adil Salahi, an expert in Shariah, or Islamic law, has told Arab News: The reason
the punishment is meted out in public is not to
humiliate, but to serve as a deterrent.
During a flogging, the man inflicting the punishment is required under Shariah
law to keep his elbow at his side, and only use his wrist in a flicking motion so as
not to cause too much pain.
He added that the person administering the punishment will often hold a copy of
the Quran under his arm, to ensure the elbow
doesnt leave his side.
The lashes are normally administered in batches, with a top limit of 50. Doctors
are supposed to assess whether someone is
medically fit enough to receive lashes.
Amnesty International said that the most lashes in a single case it has recorded is
4,000, imposed on Muhammad Ali al-Sayyid, an Egyptian national who was
convicted of robbery in 1990. He was lashed 50 times every fortnight. He was
released from prison in 1998.
We asked Amnesty whether it knew of anyone who had died from being lashed,
but they didnt come up with any examples.
SOURCE: AMNESTY
China carried out the most, according to Amnesty International, but the
organisation has stopped publishing figures on China because data on capital
punishment is considered a state secret. Instead, they challenge Chinese
authorities to publish the figures themselves.
Saudi Arabia claims, in its defence, that its not the worst. Even when ranked per
head of population, however, it still comes third in global rankings:
The deal to train Saudi civil servants in the prison service might have fallen
through, but other arrangements remain in place.
Among them: British soldiers are being deployed in Saudi Arabia, to train Syrian
rebels to fight against President Bashar al-Assad, according to the Ministry of
Defence.
The College of Policing also works in Saudi Arabia, training police there. Were not
clear exactly what they do it isnt made very clear but it is sufficient enough to
ensure an exchange of gifts. In 2013, for example, the College of Policing gave the
Ministry of Interior a set of commemorative coins, worth 30. The year before,
General Majjid Alzoman, of the Saudi Arabia police, gave the College a 10
ornamental coffee pot, a metal plaque and chocolates.
There is also the matter of the secret vote-trading deals with Saudi Arabia to
ensure both states were elected to the UN Human Rights Council, according to
leaked diplomatic cables.
Follow @FactCheck on Twitter
Posted by Thavam at 7:58 PM