Yeah this is fair and reasonable. Not.
 

(CNN) -- A court in Saudi Arabia increased the punishment for a gang-rape victim after her lawyer won an appeal of the sentence for the rapists, the lawyer told CNN.

The 19-year-old victim was sentenced last year to 90 lashes for meeting with an unrelated male, a former friend from whom she was retrieving photographs. The seven rapists, who abducted the pair and raped both, received sentences ranging from 10 months to five years in prison.

The victim's attorney, Abdulrahman al-Lahim, contested the rapists' sentence, contending there is a fatwa, or edict under Islamic law, that considers such crimes Hiraba (sinful violent crime) and the punishment should be death.

"After a year, the preliminary court changed the punishment and made it two to nine years for the defendants," al-Lahim said of the new decision handed down Wednesday. "However, we were shocked that they also changed the victim's sentence to be six months in prison and 200 lashes."

The judges more than doubled the punishment for the victim because of "her attempt to aggravate and influence the judiciary through the media," according to a source quoted by Arab News, an English-language Middle Eastern daily newspaper.

Judge Saad al-Muhanna from the Qatif General Court also barred al-Lahim from defending his client and revoked his law license, al-Lahim said. The attorney has been ordered to attend a disciplinary hearing at the Ministry of Justice next month.

Al-Lahim said he is appealing the decision to bar him from representing the victim and has a meeting with Justice Minister Abdullah bin Muhammad bin Ibrahim Al Al-Sheikh on Monday.

"Currently she doesn't have a lawyer, and I feel they're doing this to isolate her and deprive her from her basic rights," al-Lahim said. "We will not accept this judgment and I'll do my best to continue representing her because justice needs to take place."

Al-Lahim said he wanted the Justice Ministry to take "a very clear standing" on the case, saying the decision is "judicial mutiny against reform that King Abdullah bin Abdulaziz started and against Saudi women who are being victimized because of such decisions."

Women are subject to numerous restrictions in Saudi Arabia, including a strict dress code, a prohibition against driving and the need for a man's permission to travel or have surgery. Women are also not allowed to testify in court unless it is about a private matter that was not observed by a man, and they are not allowed to vote.

The Saudi government recently has taken some steps toward bettering the situation of women in the kingdom, including the establishment earlier this year of special courts to handle domestic abuse cases, adoption of a new labor law that addresses working women's rights, and creation of a human rights commission.

CNN was unable to reach government officials for comment.

So both she and the unrelated male were raped by this group of seven? Was the fellow she met with who was also raped charged with having homosexual relations? I think that is illegal in the Saud too.

Sharia "Law", gotta love it.

But they are our allies!!!!

It's bad enough for them to do this in their own country, but I've read reports of it happening in Spain and in the Netherlands. Apparently the non muslim girls are considered whores and therefore deserve to be gang raped. Yeah , tell me again how great religion is.

under sharia law, four eyewitnesses are required to testify before you can prove rape. and a womans testimony is worth half that of a man.

now this girl has to look forward to her family "honor killing" her.

I do like the part about no women drivers, though.

Do these people really belong to the species Homo Sapience ?? They are behaving more like the missing link.

Please excercise better judgement before broadly lumping "religion" into this context. My religion finds the actions of both the court and the men involved deplorable.

In general, religion creates far more problems than it solves. I think that was the general point.

Back on topic, these people are animals and should be treated accordingly.

That does not mean your religion is any less ridiculous.

Thank you for saying please, but my judgement remains unchanged and my statement stands. I do grant that there are individuals within every belief that are exceptional and do represent the good in people. But I see no reason to alter my position.

That does not mean your religion is any less ridiculous.
__________________
Stuart



yes, it means that precisely.

Really? You must be better informed. What is the posters religion, and why is his religion less ridiculous than Islam? Or are just saying that Isalm is the most ridiculous religion and therefore no other religion can be as idiotic?

What exactly are you afraid of Stuart? Obviously you are attacking religion out of fear. Or maybe it's ignorance.

Yes, it must be one of those two things Sammy. What else could it be?

Did I read you correctly on another thread today saying that there was no evidence for the existence of man beyond 5000-7000 years ago? Seems Im in good company then.

Agree. And I like Saudi Arabia's law against proselytizing, as well as their swift capital punishment.

This raping crap almost started a riot here in Sydney. about 7-8 Leb muslims raped a 16yr old girl and almost walked away with it. Until the public started kicking up a fuss. After a re-trial they are now doing 7-8yrs in prison. They think all western women are whores and they deserve to be raped. Filthy pigs.

LOL! What's even more ironic about Sammy's observation is he's using (for his own vitriol) a teacher, the profession of which, in previous threads, he has inferred as lazy and socially useless.

But when it comes to bashing an entire race of people, I guess he'll take whatever leverage he can get. ;)

What moral and intellectual snobbery I have witnessed in this thread. Under Liberal Democratic tradition people have the right of self determination. If the people of Saud through long standing tradition wish to deny women rights it is their business, not Americas. There in lies American conceit and hypocrisy...by their moralistic judgmental ism.

I lived and worked in Saudi for 2 years. You are being kind with the "missing link" comment much of the time.

Their prophet Mohammed went into the desert in 1400 or so. Since he left not much has changed in much of their lives, especially in the area of sharia law. They treat their dogs better than their wives, sisters and mothers. A woman who is raped is considered to not have fought the attacker off hard enough and usually given equal punishment.

Someday they will run out of oil and a few years afterwards will become a footnote in history. Hope that the rest of our civilization can work around it.