Saudi King Abdullah bin Abdul Aziz has pardoned a gang-rape 19-year-old girl victim, who had been sentenced to 200 lashes for meeting a man in private before her ordeal. The king has taken the decision because it is for the common good, reports said on December 17.
The unidentified girl was gang-raped last year by seven Saudi men in the Qatif region after being kidnapped at knifepoint along with a man with whom she was sitting in a car. Despite her ordeal, the girl was sentenced in November 2006 to 90 lashes and six months in prison for being alone in a car with a man who was not a relative. The man in the car, who was also raped by the seven men, was also given 90 lashes for meeting a strange woman in private. The rapists were given jail terms from two to five years.
But the case hit international headlines only last month when the Supreme Judicial Council, which was reviewing the girl’s appeal, decided to toughen the girl’s punishment to 200 lashes and endorsed the six-month jail term. The Council’s stance has raised many eyebrows and drew fire from international rights groups and Western governments.
Saudi Justice Minister Abdullah bin Muhammed Al-Sheik said that King Abdullah has the power to overrule court verdicts if it is in “public interest.”
The minister, who neither confirmed nor denied the King’s decision, said the monarch was concerned with “the needs of the people and the court judgments that are made against them.”
“He always looks into alleviating the suffering of the citizens when he becomes sure that these verdicts will leave psychological effects on the convicted people, though he is convinced and sure that the verdicts were fair,” he added.
The minister said that the Saudi king does hold the judiciary in high esteem. The Saudi monarch usually issues pardons to mark Eid al-Adha festival