Monday, March 9, 2009

75 Year Old Saudi Woman Sentenced to 40 Lashes and 40 Days in Jail


For what? That's your first question, right? I mean, I actually can't think of ANYTHING that would warrant 40 lashes on the back of a 75 yr old widow but the Saudis certainly can and it is this: this woman, how dare her, actually was in the company of two men who are not close relatives. Okay, you can get up off the ground now. Simply amazing. Here's some of the details from the story over at Breitbart:


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.

Did you see that?!!! Not only does she get whipped and sent to jail, but when she's out of jail, she gets DEPORTED!!! Good grief. Talk about living in the dark ages. I'm guessing this story isn't going to be used on the latest recruiting literature that American muslims are handing out.

Here's more from the story:


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.
Al-Watan identified one man as Fahd al-Anzi, the nephew of Sawadi's late husband, and the other as his friend and business partner Hadiyan bin Zein. It said they were arrested by the religious police after delivering the bread. The men also were convicted and sentenced to lashes and prison.

So, to recap...a 75 yr old woman asks the nephew of her late husband to bring her some damn food and when he and a friend deliver it to her, she gets arrested ...sentenced to 40 lashes...plus 40 days in jail....and then is deported from Saudi Arabia. She's fucking 75 years old! Every day I wake up and think there is nothing about islam that won't surprise me anymore and every damn day I'm wrong.


Saudi court sentences 75-year-old woman to lashes

CAIRO (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.
Al-Watan identified one man as Fahd al-Anzi, the nephew of Sawadi's late husband, and the other as his friend and business partner Hadiyan bin Zein. It said they were arrested by the religious police after delivering the bread. The men also were convicted and sentenced to lashes and prison.
The court said it based its ruling on "citizen information" and testimony from al-Anzi's father, who accused Sawadi of corruption.
"Because she said she doesn't have a husband and because she is not a Saudi, conviction of the defendants of illegal mingling has been confirmed," the court verdict read.
Saudi Arabia's strict interpretation of Islam prohibits men and women who are not immediate relatives from mingling. It also bars women from driving, and the playing of music, dancing and many movies also are a concern for hard-liners who believe they violate religious and moral values.
Complaints from Saudis have been growing that the religious police and courts are overstepping their broad mandate and interfering in people's lives, and critics lambasted the handling of Sawadi's case.
"How can a verdict be issued based on suspicion?" Laila Ahmed al-Ahdab, a physician who also is a columnist for Al-Watan, wrote Monday. "A group of people are misusing religion to serve their own interests."
Sawadi told the court she considered al-Anzi as her son, because she breast-fed him when he was a baby. But the court denied her claim, saying she didn't provide evidence. In Islamic tradition, breast-feeding establishes a degree of maternal relation, even if a woman nurses a child who is not biologically hers.
Sawadi commonly asked her neighbors for help after her husband died, said journalist Bandar al-Ammar, who reported the story for Al-Watan. In a recent article, he wrote that he felt the need to report the case "so everybody knows to what degree we have reached."

5 comments:

Findalis said...

40 lashes is considered a mild sentence in Saudi Arabia.

Findalis said...

Ask your Syrian friend how much the jizya she has to pay is. That is the special tax that non-muslims have to pay for the privilege of just living. The mafia calls it Protection money. What ever you call it, it is the same thing.

Anonymous said...

I'm anti- semetic? How? Just because I don't think Israel always acts in America's best interest does not make me anti semetic. IT IS NOT ANTI- SEMETIC TO CRITICIZE ISRAEL. There are more Jews in America than Israel. Where would you rather live?
I don't "adore" Syria either, and I'm certainly not in favor of any Islamist. I have had the pleasure of being close to an Iranian family so I'm soft on Iran for that reason. Good, proud, hardworking people, they were not practicing Muslims and indeed not religious people at all. I'm not atheist either - Presbyterian, God knew I'd be a skeptic and made me anyway. If Christians are right then the only people in Israel going to heaven are the Palestinian Christians - maybe 5-10% of the population. Do you believe that? Don't know if I do .

Anonymous said...

I do really enjoy this site - you guys are great. Talking foreign policy with people who agree with me is boring. I get my news from the right and the left and the truth is often in the middle - I make up my own mind based on both sources.
As for my dislike of any fundamentalist nut job- I grew up in the buckle of the bible belt. The people who would protest the rock shows I'd go to, do their damnedest to shut down any nightlife, and try to stop every sunday alcohol sales referendum - I look at them like the Taliban, or the Saudis.
On the flip side of the coin I know there is a difference between nationalism and exported jihad. If foreign troops patrolled my neighborhood I'd want them gone, out of patriotism - even if they were protecting me from Southern Baptists. America does not have a monopoly on national pride. My ancestors did not exactly behave under federal occupation- I know how long resentment of invasion lasts.
I cannot support the occupation of Iraq but I do support the Afghan war.

Holger Awakens said...

Esquerita,

You are always welcome at Holger Awakens - I do not delete comments or ban people here (other than those that violate a few pet peeves of mine) - your opinions are always welcome.

One aspect of religion, of Faith, is servitude and it's my experience that a lot of us, in our youth, rebel against religion mostly just due to the rebellious nature of our young minds and bodies. Some come back to the roots of Faith, some do not.

As for those that follow Judaism - it's my personal opinion that the Jews are G_d's Chosen People and thus they are to inherit a place in the Kingdom of G_d. For those of us in the world without that, we have a way...and the way is Jesus Christ. So to answer your question, yes...Palestinian Christians will see the Light of the Father ...as will every Jew who has practiced his or her Faith.
Muslims, not so much.

:Holger Danske