Saudi Arabia still executing for witchcraft

[RedRalph]

http://edition.cnn.com/2010/WORLD/meast/03/19/saudi.arabia.sorcery/index.html

(CNN) -- Amnesty International is calling on Saudi Arabia's King Abdullah to stop the execution of a Lebanese man sentenced to death for "sorcery."

In a statement released Thursday, the international rights group condemned the verdict and demanded the immediate release of Ali Hussain Sibat, former host of a popular call-in show that aired on Sheherazade, a Beirut based satellite TV channel.

According to his lawyer, Sibat, who is 48 and has five children, would predict the future on his show and give out advice to his audience.

The attorney, May El Khansa, who is in Lebanon, tells CNN her client was arrested by Saudi Arabia's religious police (known as the Mutawa'een) and charged with sorcery while visiting the country in May 2008. Sibat was in Saudi Arabia to perform the Islamic religious pilgrimage known as Umra.

Sibat was then put on trial. In November 2009, a court in the Saudi city of Medina found Sibat guilty and sentenced him to death.

According to El Khansa, Sibat appealed the verdict. The case was taken up by the Court of Appeal in the Saudi city of Mecca on the grounds that the initial verdict was "premature."

El Khansa tells CNN that the Mecca appeals court then sent the case back to the original court for reconsideration, stipulating that all charges made against Sibat needed to be verified and that he should be given a chance to repent.

On March 10, judges in Medina upheld their initial verdict, meaning Sibat is once again sentenced to be executed.

"The Medina court refused the sentence of the appeals court," said El Khansa, adding her client will appeal the verdict once more.

The case has been covered extensively by local media. According to Arab News, an English language Saudi daily newspaper, after the most recent verdict was issued, the judges in Medina issued a statement expressing that Sibat deserved to be executed for having continually practiced black magic on his show, adding that this sentence would deter others from practicing sorcery. Arab News reports that the case will now return to the appeals court in Mecca.

CNN has not been able to reach Saudi Arabia's Ministry of Justice for comment.

Taking this story into account, do you think the royal family should be supported as they are by so much of the outside world? Who would likely take over if they were deposed?

 

[Mise]

Really good argument for ending our dependence on fossil fuels right there.

 

[Phrossack]

I can't believe our troops actually fought and died to defend this medieval relic in 1990. We really should stop dealing with them.

 

[Cheezy the Wiz]

http://edition.cnn.com/2010/WORLD/meast/03/19/saudi.arabia.sorcery/index.html



Taking this story into account, do you think the royal family should be supported as they are by so much of the outside world? Who would likely take over if they were deposed?

"Outside world" here means the United States. Given the level of investment in the country, and how much we need their oil, that relationship is not bound to change for some time.

You and I both know that imperialists support whomever they think will protect their interests, as that is their only morality.

 

[RedRalph]

"Outside world" here means the United States. Given the level of investment in the country, and how much we need their oil, that relationship is not bound to change for some time.

You and I both know that imperialists support whomever they think will protect their interests, as that is their only morality.

Oh, of course, but it's not just the US, the Brits, Russians and several others are in on it, but not to the same scale as the Americans.

It's funny, some of the most pro-US (and all it allegedly stands for) people right here on this site will unashamedly defend the relationship with this psychopathic regime... with no hint of embarassment.

 

[Winner]

I can't believe our troops actually fought and died to defend this medieval relic in 1990. We really should stop dealing with them.

Your troops fought to defend the oil, not the Saudi family.

Although the more you know about Saudi Arabia, the better Saddam's regime looks

 

[RedRalph]

Your troops fought to defend the oil, not the Saudi family.

Although the more you know about Saudi Arabia, the better Saddam's regime looks

All jokes aside, loathesome as Saddam was, there were no Salem trials in his time.

Seriously, can anyone who is against Iran getting nukes give a convincing argument as to why KSA shouldn't be bombed if they tried the same?

 

[Mise]

Yeah, for our part, we're quite happy to sell them £43 bn worth of advanced aerospace technology, including Typhoons, Hawks, servicing & maintenence contracts, etc etc...

 

[Winner]

Saudi Arabia reminds me of the good old days of the Cold War: they're bastards, but they're our bastards (so we're gonna ignore the fact they trample on human rights 24/7).

If things had developed differently, Saudi Arabia could be the evil enemy seeking to develop nuclear weapons, whereas Iran would be our loyal ally. And both countries would have exactly the same regimes as they have today.

 

[RedRalph]

If I had to choose one to live in, it would be Iran, without hesitation.

 

[luiz]

"Outside world" here means the United States. Given the level of investment in the country, and how much we need their oil, that relationship is not bound to change for some time.

You and I both know that imperialists support whomever they think will protect their interests, as that is their only morality.

I wasn't aware that only the US buys Saudi oil and invests in Saudi Arabia. In the world I live in, pretty much everyone is doing just that.

----

And I agree with Mise, reading about Saudi Arabia is a great motivation to find alternatives for oil. It is a much, much greater motivation than all that Global Warming apocalypse nonsense.

 

[RedRalph]

I wasn't aware that only the US buys Saudi oil and invests in Saudi Arabia. In the world I live in, pretty much everyone is doing just that.

No one is selling the royal family arms to the same degree as the US, though Russia is trying.

 

[luiz]

No one is selling the royal family arms to the same degree as the US, though Russia is trying.

As Mise said, England also sells weapons to the Saudis. Even Brazil does. I am sure France does it too, and you already mentioned Russia which is quickly expanding its market share.

The US sells more because it has more to sell. Basically everyone is propping them up; it is just a matter of scale that the US needs more oil.

 

[Cheezy the Wiz]

I wasn't aware that only the US buys Saudi oil and invests in Saudi Arabia. In the world I live in, pretty much everyone is doing just that.

I was very clearly talking about the heavy military investment the United States has there. When the Russians or Brits build military cities there, then come back and yell at me.

 

[RedRalph]

As Mise said, England also sells weapons to the Saudis. Even Brazil does. I am sure France does it too, and you already mentioned Russia which is quickly expanding its market share.

The US sells more because it has more to sell. Basically everyone is propping them up; it is just a matter of scale that the US needs more oil.

so in other words, you agree with me?

 

[luiz]

so in other words, you agree with me?

I was disagreeing with Cheezy that the US relation with SA is in some way more imoral than the relation the UK, Russia and others have with the Kingdom. It is isn't, it's just larger because the US is larger.

Virtually the whole world is guilty of propping up the Saudi regime.

 

[Mise]

You really can't pin this on the US alone -- when contracts go up for tender, all Western countries with significant arms industries, most of all France and the UK, leap at the opportunity, because they know it will mean billions for their countries. And governments are complicit; witness the dodgy gov't deals with the Saudis over the Al-Yamamah renewals in 2006.

The US may win more than other countries, but that's not because other countries aren't bidding.......

 

[Imrahil91]

Many countries may be a little dependent on Saudi oil, but it's a two-way dependency, because SA are also quite dependent on Western expertise, weapons etc, so maybe it's better if we have some control over that backward kingdom in Arabia. The best would probably be to boycott them entirely, but that's not very realistic. If they were excluded from the world, they may also turn even more extremist and support terrorism more openly too. Doesn't some people say that countries like Iran and Cuba would be more liberal and democratic if we stopped having sanctions on them? Will the fundamentalist regime and people of Saudi Arabia forsake their religion and ideals for economic pressure?

 

[RedRalph]

How much worse could they get than executing people for wicthcraft, Imrahil?

 

[Formaldehyde]

Regarding Islam and fortune telling, it appears that faithful Muslims have very strong religious beliefs in this regard. Basically, they think all fortune tellers are either frauds or people who have made pacts with Jinn, the latter being "cursed devils". Only Allah may foresee the future.

Spoiler :

Because of the sacrilege and heresy involved in fortune telling, Islam has taken a very strong stance towards it. Islam opposes any form of association with those who practice fortune-telling, except to advise them to give up their forbidden practices.

Palm-reading, I-Ching, fortune cookies, tea leaves as well as Zodiacal signs and Bio-rhythm computer programs, all claim to inform those who believe in them about their future. However, Allaah has stated in no uncertain terms that He alone knows the future: ''Verily the knowledge of the Hour is with Allaah alone. It is He who sends down the rain and knows the contents of the wombs. No one knows what he will earn tomorrow nor in which land he will die, but Allaah is all-knowing and aware."(Surah Luqmaan 31:34)

Therefore, Muslims must take utmost care in dealing with books, magazines, newspapers as well as individuals who, in one way or another, claim knowledge of the future or the unseen. For example, when a Muslim weather-man predicts rain, snow, or other climatic conditions for tomorrow he should add the phrase, "In ShaaAllaah (If Allaah so wishes)". Likewise, when the Muslim doctor informs her patient that she will deliver a child in 9 months or on such and such a day, she should take care to add the phrase "In ShaaAllaah", as such statements are only estimations based on statistical information.

I wonder if other soothsayers have met with similar fates. And if not, what made this one so special.