60 Lashes For Female Reporter Doing WHAT?
Oct 24th, 2009 | 14 responses
A Saudi Arabian court sentenced a female journalist to 60 lashes because she worked for a television station that aired the sexual confessions of a Saudi man, she and her attorney said today.
The Reuters news agency said the woman, who requested only her first name used, was unaware her Lebanese Broadcasting Corp. did not have proper authorization to operate in the Islamic kingdom. “The verdict was just because I cooperated with LBC,” Rosana, 22, the female journalist, told Reuters.
By Western standards, the verdict is outrageous if the story is true. Reuters said the LBC is popular in Saudi Arabia because the station airs popular Western customs in one of the world’s most religiously conservative nations.
“I was not aware (that LBC was unlicensed) but in the end this is the verdict and I accept it. I don’t want to appeal,” Rosana said. The court could not be reached, while a spokesman for the information ministry in Riyadh declined to comment.
“This is the first case in which a journalist was tried at a court of summary jurisdiction for an offense relating to the nature of his or her profession,” said Sulaiman al-Jumaie, a lawyer who defended Abdul-Jawad, who told of his pre-marital sexual exploits on LBC in August and was sentenced to 1,000 lashes and five years in jail.
The Reuters story concludes:
Judges, who are clerics of Saudi Arabia’s strict Wahhabi school of Islam, have wide powers of discretion and can issue sentences according to their interpretation of Islamic law, which critics said has led to some arbitrary rulings.
The questions I have is if LBC is broadcast regularly in the Saudi kingdom, are the clerics looking the other way until sexually-sensitive material is aired? Was Rosana the only female working for LBC?
By contrast, NBC recently concluded a series on gains women have made in the U.S. workplace hosted and edited by Maria Shriver. Makes me wonder what Rosana would have to say about that.
We are a faithful, obedient ally of the Saudis because we worship their oil which keeps us in line just as the Wahhabi clerics keep imagined infidels like Rosana under foot.
Of course, it’s their country. If it was up to me, I would say take their oil and their inhumane values and stick it.
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14 Responses to “60 Lashes For Female Reporter Doing WHAT?”
They are our close allies and have been since WWII… Any wonder foreigners snicker when we talk of human rights & democracy.
Depends on what the meaning of “Lash” is.
Is it beating with a dangerous whip, cutting scaring and sometimes killing, or, is it something much less? From historical accounts of “lashings” aboard old naval vessels, few people lived past 30 or 40 lashes. So she just “accepts” without appeal??? Why? Not so bad maybe? Something else?
….and a THOUSAND LASHES for the guy? WTF?
Don Q makes a good point. So much for the US walking the walk. Must have oil – morality on the back-burner.
So some cultures we should respect others we shouldn't as if DQ was any more arbitrary than any one else about this. At least the US govt has a reasonable political basis for it's tolerance. With DQ it's just that they got to friendly with people he don't like. Obama wants to sit down and make peace with Iran and you guys want to piss on SA? Brilliant!
I don't think the President is being the least bit soft on Iran. Especially since Dubya did nothing at all. Even when they infiltrated into Iraq and killed our military people. Nothing. Just nothing at all.
EEllis,
On any given day of the week Iran is a monument to democracy, liberalism and human rights when compared with Saudi Arabia…
Saudi Arabia – Government
This is disgusting but not surprising for that part of the world. The Arab world lives in medieval times by Western standards of justice and humanity.
They are probably just as disgusted by our cable tv and the skimpy fashions worn by teenage girls over here. This cultural divide is why I always thought that this region was not suited for a democratic makeover, any more than Vietnam was.
Isn't that a lot like blaming the Kingdom of Saudia Arabia for 9/11 since the majority of the hijackers were Saudi nationals? Perhaps Hillary Clinton should open with that statement if given the chance.
DQ the fact that you believe Iran is a “monument” to anything is a great reason to ignore the absurdities that come from you.
On any given day of the week Iran is a monument to democracy, liberalism and human rights when compared with Saudi Arabia…
English not your first language? Or you didn't bother to read the whole sentence? Which is it?
With a handful of exceptions (and Iran isn't one of them), most countries look good when compared to our long standing ally: Saudi Arabia.
Well, reading here and snickering a bit, I must point out that we are Capitalists, are we not? We must act in our own selfish interest. Its a requirment of a free people.
“English not your first language?”
Oh the balls the ignorant grow when they anonymous on the internet. Puff up little man, I'm not wasting my time but for a snicker at your absurdity.
“Obama wants to sit down and make peace with Iran and you guys want to piss on SA? “
Iran is our adversary, while Saudi Arabia is at least superficially our ally (as is Pakistan).
They're not attacking Saudi Arabia so much as finding another excuse to attack the USA.
“most countries look good when compared to our long standing ally: Saudi Arabia”
If the government there (as in Pakistan) were to fall, what would replace it? Something worse, intelligent people fear. Hence our “support” for our “long[-]standing ally” (actually, allies) in such case(s).