Abu Dhabi prosecutor wants death for ‘rapist’

february 10, 2014

A man from another Gulf country could be executed for raping five boys in Abu Dhabi after seducing them to come with him to the top of buildings where they lived, claiming he wanted to show them the birds, the press reported on Monday.

The unnamed man, 39, first denied he was giving money to the boys and taking them to the building rooftops, but medical reports showed the children were raped.

Parents had reported the man to the police and all the victims identified their rapist at the police station, Emarat Al Youm Arabic language daily said.

“He used to stop a child and ask him about his name and age.

“He then gave him money and asked him to come to the top of the building to watch his birds.”

During trial, the prosecutor demanded the maximum punishment against the defendant on the grounds all his victims were children. He said the penalty should be in line with Law 354 specifying the death punishment in such cases. (Source: Emirates 24/7)

Saudi Arabia: Prison, lashes for liberal Saudi website founder; apostasy charges dropped

Riyadh: The founder of a liberal minded website in Saudi Arabic has been sentenced to seven years in prison and 600 lashes after angering Islamic authorities in the country, a newspaper reported on Tuesday.

Raif Badawi, through his website known as Free Saudi Liberals, had urged Saudis to share opinions about the role of religion in the country, which follows a strict form of Islam that includes harsh punishments for challenging customs. A judge in the Red Sea port of Jiddah imposed the sentences but dropped charges of apostasy, which could have brought a death sentence, the Al Watan newspaper reported.

Badawi has been held since June 2012. The newspaper did not name the judge who sentenced Badawi, nor did it say when the ruling was handed down. It was unclear Tuesday whether Badawi would receive any credit for the time he’s already served.

Jen Psaki, a State Department spokeswoman, said Tuesday that the US was “deeply concerned” by the sentence given to Badawi. “We believe that when public speech is deemed offensive, be it via social media or any other means, the issue is best addressed through open dialogue and honest debate,” Psaki said.

Hard-line Saudi clerics have raised repeated objections to social media, including one prominent Islamic scholar describing Twitter as a path to hell. He later withdrew the comment.

(Agence France-Presse)

Saudi father gifted Dh3.3 million for pardoning son’s killer

A large Saudi tribe gave presents worth more than Dh3 million to a local man for pardoning the killer of his son following mediation efforts by tribal leaders.

Mohsen bin Hadeed Al Mukati went to court in the western Saudi town of Taif and pardoned the killer of his son without demanding diya (blood money), prompting the judge to abolish a death sentence against the killer, a relative of the victim.

Al Mukati agreed to pardon the defendant, who killed his son during a fight several years ago, following mediation efforts of more than a year by some tribal chiefs and dignitaries to persuade him to drop the case.

“The tribe then staged a big party to honour Al Mukati for his gesture that saved the life of the defendant…during the party, tribal chiefs gave him presents worth nearly SR3.3 million (Dh3.25 million) in addition to a Jeep 2013,” Sabq daily said.

Under Islamic law, which is strictly enforced in conservative Saudi Arabia, a convicted killer can escape execution and walk free in most cases if pardoned by the victim’s relatives in return for blood money. (Emirates 24/7)

Legal aid sought for Saudi death row prisoner in Iraq

October 3, 2012 http://www.saudigazette.com.sa

ABHA – The mother of a man on death row in Iraq has appealed to the Saudi government to provide legal aid for her son before he is executed.

Zaina Al-Shehri’s son Ali Hassan Fadhil Al-Shehri was sentenced to death in Iraq on terrorism charges and is reportedly due to be executed before the Eid Al-Adha holidays.

Ali’s father told Okaz/Saudi Gazette that he travelled to Jordan to meet the Saudi ambassador and find out if reports that he will be executed before Eid are true.

The diplomat told the father the embassy is waiting for a letter from the Saudi Ministry of Foreign Affairs to be able follow up with Iraqi authorities regarding his son’s case.He added: “The ambassador told me that I can follow up my son’s case through a lawyer who will be appointed by the embassy.

” Meanwhile, Iraqi Minister of Justice Hassan Halboos said the Al-Malki government has the power to delay the execution of death sentences.

In response to an inquiry by the United Nations about the increasing number of death sentences implemented in Iraq lately, the minister said only the Iraqi Council of Ministers can recommend the delay of executions.

His ministry does not have such powers, he added.

Sources in the ministry told Okaz/Saudi Gazette that the minister explained to the local UN representative that commuting a death sentence in Iraq requires a thorough study.

The minister also told the UN representative that his ministry received requests from several humanitarian organizations asking it not to enforce the court verdicts and commute the death sentences to life imprisonment instead.

Those organizations were critical of the execution of 26 people in a space of only two days.

Dr. Talal Al-Zawbaee, a member of the Iraqi parliament, told the Iraqi government the recent spate of executions would put the government in a tight position before international organizations.

He also said such actions would make the international community wonder why people from the same religious factions were executed in the space of two days.