RIYADH, Saudi Arabia - A Saudi court sentenced a woman who had
been gang raped to six months in jail and 200 lashes - more than
doubling her initial penalty for being in the car of a man who was
not a relative, a newspaper reported Thursday.
The decision by the Qatif General Court came in a case that had
sparked rare debate about the kingdom's justice system when it
surfaced more than a year ago.
In its decision Wednesday, the court also roughly doubled prison
sentences for the seven men convicted of raping the 19-year-old
woman, the Arab News reported on its English-language Web
site.
According to Arab News, the court said the woman's punishment was
increased because of "her attempt to aggravate and influence the
judiciary through the media."
She had initially been sentenced to 90 lashes after being
convicting her of violating Saudi's rigid laws on segregation of
the sexes.
Under Saudi Arabia's interpretation of Islamic Sharia law, women
are not allowed in public in the company of men other than their
male relatives.
The initial sentences for the men convicted of the gang rape ranged
from 10 months to five years in prison. Their new sentences range
from two to nine years, the paper said.
The attack took place in 2006. The woman has said that it occurred
as she tried to retrieve her picture from a male high school
student she used to know. While in the car with the student, two
men got into the vehicle and drove them to a secluded area. She
said she was raped there by seven men, three of whom also attacked
her friend.
Reports of the story triggered debate about Saudi Arabia's legal
system, in which judges have wide discretion in punishing a
criminal, rules of evidence are shaky and sometimes no defense
lawyers are present. The result, critics say, are sentences left to
the whim of judges.
The judges, appointed by the king, have a wide discretion in
handing down sentences, often said to depend on their whim. A
rapist, for instance, could receive anywhere from a light or no
sentence, to death.
The woman was identified in the media only as the Girl from Qatif.
The case was referred back to the General Court by an appeals court
last summer, after the woman's attorney argued the verdict was too
lenient for the rapists and unjust for the victim.
The court also banned the lawyer from defending her, confiscated
his license to practice law and summoned him to a disciplinary
hearing later this month.
"I explained to them that it was my job to do everything legal in
order to serve my client. But they did not listen," the lawyer,
Abdul Rahman al-Lahem, was quoted by the paper as saying.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20071116/ap_on_re_mi_ea/saudi_justice;_ylt=AoOG.p6qUXCjAMXiTVdXEMms0NUE
where is justice??!!! 