Islam's Punishment of Victims

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200 lashes for being the victim of blackmail . . .

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The victim had met her friend to receive some photos of her that he had taken from a relationship with her when she was 16. She contends that the man had initially threatened to distribute the pictures to shame her. “The picture was even given to the police after that. We were hoping that the Higher Court would take all that into consideration when issuing its verdict, but unfortunately none of that happened,” said Al-Lahem.
http://www.arabnews.com/?page=1&section=0&article=103734&d=19&m=11&y=2007

. . . and gang-rape.

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"I think when you look at the crime and the fact that now the victim is punished, I think that causes a fair degree of surprise and astonishment," McCormack said. "But it is within the power of the Saudi government to take a look at the verdict and change it."

The sentencing came at a sensitive time in U.S.-Saudi relations. The United States is trying to get Saudi Arabia to co-sponsor a U.S.- organized conference next week in the United States to work toward a peace deal between Israel and the Palestinians. President Bush telephoned Saudi King Abdullah on Tuesday about the conference.

The decision by the Qatif General Court more than doubled the woman's sentence after she was convicted of being in the car of a man who was not a relative.

The woman initially had been sentenced to 90 lashes after she was convicted of violating rigid laws on the segregation of the sexes. The Saudi court said the woman's punishment was increased because of "her attempt to aggravate and influence the judiciary through the media."

The Saudi Ministry of Justice stood by the verdict Tuesday, saying that "charges were proven" against the woman.
http://www.breitbart.com/print.php?id=D8T1MMEG0&show_article=1

So even the rape victim's lawyer must be punished for having the effrontery to appeal for justice.

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Al-Lahem said denying him his right to practice law at this sensitive time is a denial of his client from the right of having a defense. “Asking me to appear in front of a disciplinary committee at the Ministry of Justice on Dec. 5 is a punishment for taking human rights cases against some institutions that over time have gained some sort of immunity from questioning,” said Al-Lahem, referring to a recent case lodged by him, on behalf of a Saudi woman, against the Commission for the Promotion of Virtue and Prevention of Vice.

He added that the law is clear that lawyers are not to be stopped from practicing without first being handed an official warning. “None of that happened,” he said.
http://www.arabnews.com/?page=1&section=0&article=103734&d=19&m=11&y=2007

And David Miliband wants to expand the EU to include states where the above is the standard and the practice.


UPDATE: Qatif Case Verdicts Get Ministry’s Backing
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JEDDAH, 21 November 2007 — The Ministry of Justice made its first public statement regarding the second verdict in the so-called “Qatif Girl” rape trial, justifying the decision to punish the victims with lashes and jail time on the basis of “some proved charges.”

The statement, which was released through the official Saudi Press Agency, said the ministry “welcomes objective criticism that benefits the general good, away from emotional responses.”

Last week “Qatif Girl”, whose name has not been released to protect her identity, and a male companion saw their sentences increased from 90 lashes to 200 lashes and six months in jail on orders by the Higher Court of Justice.

The two were found guilty of being in a state of khalwa, when an unrelated man and woman are found together, prior to their abduction and rape. The sentences of the seven men found guilty of abducting and repeatedly raping the young woman and her male companion were also increased to between two and nine years each.
http://www.arabnews.com/?page=1&section=0&article=103791&d=21&m=11&y=2007