Saudi to behead Lebanese convicted of witchcraft: lawyer
Saudi Arabia is a country run by cavemen.
Saudi to behead Lebanese convicted of witchcraft: lawyer
A Lebanese man sentenced to death in Saudi Arabia on charges of witchcraft is due to be beheaded this week, his lawyer said on Wednesday, urging officials and rights groups to intervene on his behalf.”Last night we got news through unofficial channels that Ali Sabat would be beheaded within 48 hours,” May el-Khansa, Sabat’s attorney in Beirut told AFP.
“I have since been contacting Lebanese officials, including President Michel Sleiman and Lebanon’s ambassador to Saudi Arabia to appeal his case.”
Sabat was sentenced to death in November of last year by a Saudi court for practicing witchcraft.
He was arrested in May 2008 by the religious police in Medina, where he was on a pilgrimage before returning to his native Lebanon.
The case against him was brought after he gave advice and made predictions on Lebanese television.
Khansa said Lebanon’s ambassador to Saudi Arabia was in contact with Sabat and someone from the embassy had visited him on Wednesday in his jail cell.
“It is very important that we save the life of this one person,” she said. “He is not a criminal.”
She added that Sabat’s family was in shock and that his mother was seriously ill with doctors saying she could die anytime.
Rights groups have expressed concern about Sabat’s case and similar ones pending in Saudi Arabia and have accused Saudi courts of sanctioning a literal witch hunt by the religious police.
Saudi Arabia has no clear legal definition on the charge of witchcraft and judges are given discretionary power in determining what constitutes a crime and what sentence to impose.
In November 2007, Mustafa Ibrahim, an Egyptian working as a pharmacist in Saudi Arabia was beheaded after he was found guilty of sorcery.
I’m easily confused… Can someone remind me what century we’re in?
I wish they would give us some info as to what his actual job was. All they tell us is “he was accused of witchcraft on television.” Well what the hell was he doing that they called witchcraft? My own guess is weatherman?
No, this is detailed in a previous article that says he tried to predict the future on TV.
The backward Saudi religious police failed to comprehend that he’s just cold reading and instead concluded that he’s a powerful sorceror who needs to be brought down.
I’m sure they genuinely believe that executing him will make the world a safer place.
Islam is bullshit.
Anyone who steps foot in Saudi Arabia deserves what they get. I’d sooner do business with Hitler and visit Nazi Germany than Saudi Arabia.
Islam is complete insanity, and since this man was on a holy ‘pilgrimage’ its fair to say he prescribes to this bullshit. I’ll say it again, he deserves his fate. Hopefully they’ll execute many more muslims!
In some ways I agree with Citizen although I fear he may have crippled our argument by invoking Godwin’s law ;)
As an antitheist I would never even consider going to Saudi Arabia.
Every cell in my body would be in fear of allah’s wrath there…
Or should I say in fear of the twisted draconian legal system since allah, along with all other gods, exists only in the minds of his deluded followers.
I’ve visited Kuwait, Jordan & Egypt and always felt perfectly safe but the unparalleled overreligiosity of the Saudis is truly terrifying.