These people are our "allies"

[Bluecube]

What a civilised bunch the Saudi Arabians are...

Link to BBC News story

Summary is a gang rape victim appealed against her punishment and had it doubled. 200 lashes and 6 months in jail for being gang raped. Read the story if you don't believe me...

EDIT: Clarification - As has been pointed out the 200 lashes and 6 months in jail were for sitting in a car with a strange man and not because she was raped.

[M0nkeyb0Y]

Mercy - that's horrific

[dangel]

Oh dear God that's retarded.

[chrisg22]

They do some pretty sick things over there.

[0iD]

Yeah, posted this in QT last night. Bizarre laws.

[Saracen]

...

Summary is a gang rape victim appealed against her punishment and had it doubled. 200 lashes and 6 months in jail for being gang raped. Read the story if you don't believe me...

Well, from that BBC story, and assuming it's accurate, she wasn't punished for being raped, as you say. The Saudi's have strict laws on sex segregation and she broke them. That is what the punishment was for. And again, if the story is accurate, she was using the media to try to influence the court. Well, it seems she succeeded in that, but not the way it was intended.

Personally, I don't agree with the Saudi laws on segregation. I think they're primitive, punitive and barbaric, but according to that story, she did break them. What happened to her afterwards doesn't give her carte blanche to break other laws.

I feel the obvious sympathy for her and the ordeal she suffered, but I can't see how that gives her a free pass on other laws that, presumably, she was fully aware she was breaking. After all, the rapists were caught and punished too .... though not severely enough according to the Saracen scale of punishment for rapists, but I won't relate the details of that just in case anyone is eating lunch or has a delicate stomach.

[acrobat]

I dont think countries should be allowed to do barbaric things like this to its own people. If the UN wasn't such a waste of space, they would be in there throwing their weight around and telling them to clean up their act or there would be serious consequences. But the UN dont seem to do anything or have any weight to throw around. What a joke =(

[Bluecube]

It's not the fact that she broke the law that I'm picking up on nor the fact that she tried to use the media to influence any decision. It's the fact that she received 200 lashes and a prison sentence! Prison sentence, okely dokely. But 200 (TWO HUNDRED - can anyone possibly imagine that?) lashes on top of that! That's pretty sick.

[usxhe190]

It is a place where things (i.e. human rights) haven't progressed and still a monocultural society, hence the one sided laws...

[Mama Sumae]

the 19-year-old woman, who is from Saudi Arabia's Shia minority

Seven men from the majority Sunni community

When she appealed, the judges said she had been attempting to use the media to influence them

sentences are still low considering they could have faced the death penalty.

The victim's lawyer was suspended from the case, has had his licence to work confiscated, and faces a disciplinary session.

what should i say ?


For all its worth i am not even mildly worried about it, as long as they dont affect others their place their mess. Its not our job to tell them how to run their country if the government actions are supported by the population they might as well burn the entire country.

what does concern me:



By standing beside them we are accepting and half guilty for their actions, that photo really shames me… still i guess we are too dependent energy wise to be fussy.



Sry big post


.

[Perfectionist]

Neither of em look happy do they. Charles looks like he can smell something really bad...

Of course he can, it's islamofascism. Even he's not that blinkered. Politicians love the guy, I wonder if those 3 would be standing side by side if it wasn't for the fact that the monarchy have no actual power in this country...

[JPreston]

For all its worth i am not even mildly worried about it, as long as they dont affect others their place their mess. Its not our job to tell them how to run their country if the government actions are supported by the population they might as well burn the entire country.

I shouldn't imagine the population are particularly supportive of the disgusting way that women are treated there (at least the 50% of the population that are women presumably are not, not that they ever get a say in things). The govt of Saudi is in no way representaive of its people, it's a vile kelptocratic regime dependent on unquestioning US support which (un)fortunately it has in spades.

But I agree it is utterly disgusting that their visiting dictatorial rulers stay in Buckingham Palace, that as taxpayers we subsidise bribes paid to them, and that absolute morons (I forget whether it was Prince Charles, or Jaqui Smith) make statements praising our 'shared values' whatever they are supposed to be. Maybe in medieval times when we were in the dark ages and they were at their zenith we shared some values, but fortunately we have outgrown public beheadings and stonings since.

More books are translated into Spanish every year, than have been translated into Arabic in the last 1000 years in total (i.e, ever). Says rather a lot, really.

[Noxvayl]

I applaud the fact that her sentence was increased for trying to use the media to influence the court. I HATE the media they are scum, frankly we could do without them.

I don't think that slashes, if used, should be used for something like that. It isn't exactly a serious crime, if anything those bastards who raped her should get some good slashes. Scum like that don't deserve human rights if they feel they may do as they see fit.

[Mama Sumae]

I shouldn't imagine the population are particularly supportive of the disgusting way that women are treated there ... The govt of Saudi is in no way representaive of its people, it's a vile kelptocratic regime dependent on unquestioning US support which (un)fortunately it has in spades.
.

I would really like to believe so too, it does seem racional to us to be so, yet what can we use to support that idea? even here in uk i found people supporting this sort of islamic state, surelly it wasnt that long ago that media was all over the place regarding the significant number of muslims that believe Sharia should be implemented in uk?

Like you i do believe Saudi govt doesn’t represent its people but it’s more hope than belief. Independent of that its still there job, the people of Saudi to decide and affirm that not ours.

I applaud the fact that her sentence was increased for trying to use the media to influence the court. I HATE the media they are scum, frankly we could do without them.

Can surely understand what you mean... last thing we need is a little girl talking to the media about a subject that might increase discussion about women's rights in the country. We can see how you and me feel about it imagine the poor judge feelings.

[charleski]

I feel the obvious sympathy for her and the ordeal she suffered, but I can't see how that gives her a free pass on other laws that, presumably, she was fully aware she was breaking.

I completely fail to see your point, in fact I find this attitude quite reprehensible. I think you need to restate your position.

A bad law is a bad law, and needs to be opposed, whether by disobedience, by argument or other means.

[Saracen]

I completely fail to see your point, in fact I find this attitude quite reprehensible. I think you need to restate your position.

A bad law is a bad law, and needs to be opposed, whether by disobedience, by argument or other means.

You're quite welcome to think that.

She broke laws, and was punished for it. That she was raped does not excuse her breaking laws.

I said earlier, I don't agree with the laws and I think they are, as I said before "primitive, punitive and barbaric". But the fact that she was subsequently raped does not give her a free pass on having previously broken laws. Look at the context of my post. I quoted someone that said she was punished with lashes and jail "for being gang raped". She was not being punished for that at all. She was punished for breaking laws. They are separate issues.

Okay, so a "bad law" needs to be opposed including by disobedience? Who gets to define "bad laws"? That, taken as written, is an anarchist's charter. Can we all just ignore any law we consider to be "bad"?

In any society I can think of, disobeying laws is going to get you punished if you get caught. She got caught. As I said, I don't agree with the laws and I certainly don't agree with the punishment, but nor do I have a right to tell the Saudi government, or nation, what their laws should be. I have an opinion on them, and I've said what that is, but my opinion is also that breaking laws carries a risk and she doesn't get a free pass because of what subsequently happened to her. They are two separate events.