No lashes for Saudi rape victim after all - عيد مبارك
(mirrored from Feministing)
The Saudi woman who was raped and subsequently sentenced to 200 lashes and six months in jail has been "pardoned" by King Abdullah. (Pardoned is in quotes because I can't bring myself to repeat rhetoric that frames this woman as somehow guilty of something.)
The Saudi king frequently pardons criminals at the Eid al-Adha festival which takes place this week, but correspondents say that is usually announced by the official press agency.
The BBC's Heba Saleh says the king's decision to pardon the woman victim is already arousing controversy with some contributors to conservative websites, who say he has breached the rules of religion in order to appease critics in the West.
I guess some folks forgot that the criticisms of the sentence hardly came form the West alone. Women activists in Saudi Arabia took to the streets recently to protest the sentence. Regardless of the controversy, at the end of the day it's just nice to get some good news.
The Saudi woman who was raped and subsequently sentenced to 200 lashes and six months in jail has been "pardoned" by King Abdullah. (Pardoned is in quotes because I can't bring myself to repeat rhetoric that frames this woman as somehow guilty of something.)
The Saudi king frequently pardons criminals at the Eid al-Adha festival which takes place this week, but correspondents say that is usually announced by the official press agency.
The BBC's Heba Saleh says the king's decision to pardon the woman victim is already arousing controversy with some contributors to conservative websites, who say he has breached the rules of religion in order to appease critics in the West.
I guess some folks forgot that the criticisms of the sentence hardly came form the West alone. Women activists in Saudi Arabia took to the streets recently to protest the sentence. Regardless of the controversy, at the end of the day it's just nice to get some good news.