Legal Journals

Saudi King Pardons Rape Victim

By sprevatt

The BBC reported today that Saudi Arabia’s King Abdullah has pardoned the female rape victim in the “Qatif girl” case.  In November, the woman and was sentenced to 200 lashes for the crime of being alone with a male who was not a relative.  The woman and her companion were abducted while sitting in a car together and were both gang raped multiple times by seven other men.  The rapists were subsequently given prison sentences of up to 9 years.

King Abdullah often issues pardons during Eid al-Adha, which will take place at the end of this week.  Human rights groups had been calling on him to change the sentence, but in the aftermath of the pardon some religious conservatives have denounced the king’s decision.

It is not known whether the sentence of the woman’s companion was also lifted.

Full post as published by Harvard International Law Journal Digest on December 17, 2007 (boomark / email).