Saudi gang rape victim to be flogged

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Apparently Monty took a level in ninja at some point Yeah, it's good for her that at least she won't have to worry about being publicly flogged... although I can only hope the reception she gets in her home will be any better. Her life appears to be a little less ruined now.

Anyway, I'm worried how this will progress now. It appears (I'm reading http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/7147632.stm) that the king's decision has riled conservatives, and while meddling by external forces is the reason they cite for their displeasure, I think a lot of them just wanted to see the "hussy" punished and will try to rally support for yet harsher measures. I hope they fail - particularly not in the courts, but in society. Being killed in your own family is probably even worse than being flogged.

 

According to the letter of the law, she did commit an offence. One of the purposes of pardon is such situations as this one, in which a litteral application of the law will not do good. The King had no power to overturn the verdict in a judicial procedure, anyway, I think.

By the way, what I've read suggests the man who was with her was raped too. That would change my previous hypothesis that he cooperated with the rapists.

 

According to Saudi Arabia she did commit a crime and she was sentenced so the pardon by the supreme ruler is appropriate. We may not agree with the law but that does not change the fact that it is a law in Saudi Arabia.

From what I have read of the Saudi Arabian government the Monarch is supreme and government actually flows from him. There are no elections there, appointments are made by the Monarch or those appointed by him.

 

And he's descended from Muhammad, so the clerics can't actually complain too much.

 

Well, I'm not quite sure about the last one. If the priests are irked enough and actually manage to topple him, they can always find a reason why Allah wanted it done. It was kind of like with the Byzantine emperors - sure, their position as God's viceroys on earth meant any rebellion or coup was blasphemous, but after you got the old one imprisoned or killed it was easy to come up with reasons why he was abusing his God-granted powers. Divine right comes with divine responsibilities, which are conveniently defined by those with religious power.

Anyway, Nakia's right (afaik) on the Saudi king being much more powerful than his peers in modern constitutional monarchies, but I think there's something else to it. Doesn't the Saudi king get additional powers and prestige from his stewardship over the Islamic holy sites? IIRC the Ottoman sultans assumed the title of Padishah due to their reign over Mecca and Medina, so I think the Saudi king is in a priviledged position in this dimension as well. It would certainly explain Saudi Arabia's influence over other Sunni muslims... and their opposition (quite vocal iirc) to Iran's ambitions.

At any rate, this ties in with the pardon. Due to his religious importance, it would be a pretty major thing if he had decreed her blameless - possibly upsetting quite a few old laws that are currently favored. He could, however, pardon her offense... although to what degree it would save her from any honor-bound fanatics outside of prison is another thing entirely.

 

Not in this case. The reason for the existence of the Sunni and Shia sects is that the Sunni believed that Mohammad's successor should be decided by blood. In other words, the importance of genealogical succession has been an article of Sunni Islam for over 1500 years. The catholics will abandon the papacy before the Saudis abandon their ruler. Even if someone knocked him off, the Sunni majority who rules in Saudi Arabia would stand for nothing less than another descendant of Mohammad to take his place.

 

I rather doubt the House of Saud can claim direct descent from Mohammad - plus, with an extended family as big as 200+ direct descendants of King Abdul Aziz, it should not be a problem finding an heir with a more agreeable mindset instead of staging a revolution a la the Iranian example. After all, the Wahhabis have been a part of Saudi Arabia for as long as the house of Saud has, and the two groups have often worked together.

 

I Googled 'House of Saudi' and did not find any statement that the family was descended from Mohammad.

Here is one article which might shed a little light on the subject.

Seems there are 3000 to 4000 Saudi Princes although not all of them are eligible to become king. Another article listed the eligibilty at 150 princes.

Saudi Arabia is a religious dictatorship with lots and lots of oil.

 

Yeah, I got him confused with the Hashemite kings of Jordan. What a shame.