The British newspaper Economist reports that the case of ‘Qatif Girl’, in addition to other bizarre cases like the forced divorce of couples based on tribal differences, have caused Saudis to start questioning the justice available through their judicial system. It notes, correctly, that basic decency might provide a proper leavening for puritanical zeal.

The legal reforms announced earlier this year really need to be taken up as a matter of urgency. Cases like that of ‘Qatif Girl’ hurt not only the perception of Saudi Arabia by foreigners, but now by Saudis themselves. Without faith in their legal system, ordinary Saudis will start looking for a replacement, if only out of self-interest.

[Thanks to Aqoul and Andrew Sullivan at The Atlantic for the links. New visitors might like to try searching on various topics like (Qatif Girl) or (Legal Reform).]

Double indemnity
A bizarre application of the law

AS CLASSIC film buffs know, a double indemnity is an insurance policy that pays double when the insured person dies in an accident. But in Saudi Arabia, the principle appears to apply to rape victims who have the temerity to appeal, after they have been convicted along with their aggressors.

Last year a 19-year-old woman in the eastern town of Qatif appealed against a sentence of 90 lashes for the crime of khulwa (seclusion) with a man who was not related to her. Her lawyer argued that meeting a former friend in a shopping-centre car park, to retrieve a photo of herself that she feared would upset her fiancé, was scarcely so grave an offence. Moreover, this “crime” was far outweighed by the fact that the two friends had been interrupted by seven youths, who abducted them at knife-point and allegedly gang-raped both of them, repeatedly.

An appeals court recently overturned the Qatif judge’s ruling, doubling the alleged rapists’ sentences to between two and 11 years in jail. But it also more than doubled the rape victims’ sentences to 200 lashes, adding six-month jail terms. To add further insult, it barred the woman’s lawyer from the court, suspended his licence and referred him to a disciplinary board.

Saudis generally respect their legal system, which is, in theory, wholly based on Islamic principles. Still, certain rulings are increasingly raising questions about the fairness of the 700-odd judges, schooled exclusively in the Wahhabist version of Islamic law, who run it. The Qatif case is only one of many to have raised eyebrows.
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