19-year-old gang-rape victim sentenced to 200 lashes

A 19-year-old gang rape victim was sentenced to 200 lashes and to six months in jail for the crime of indecency and speaking to the press.

Saudi Arabia defended a controversial verdict sentencing a 19-year-old gang rape victim to 200 lashes and six months in jail. The Shi'ite Muslim woman had initially been sentenced to 90 lashes after being convicted of violating Saudi Arabia's rigid Islamic Sharia law on segregation of the sexes.

The decision handed down by the Saudi General Court more than doubled her sentence last week. The court also roughly doubled the prison sentences for the seven men convicted of raping her, Saudi media said.
The upholding of a decision to punish the victim triggered international outcry.

Canada said it would complain to Saudi authorities about the sentence, described as "barbaric"' by Jose Verger, the Canadian minister responsible for the status of women.

The New York based Human Rights Watch said the verdict "not only sends victims of sexual violence the message that they should not press charges, but in effect offers protection and impunity to the perpetrators."

While not directly criticizing the Saudi Arabia's judiciary, U.S. State Department spokesman Sean McCormack said, "I think when you look at the crime and the fact that now the victim is punished, I think that causes a fair degree of surprise and astonishment. It is within the power of the Saudi government to take a look at the verdict and change it."

However, the Saudi judiciary stood by its decision. "The Ministry of Justice welcomes constructive criticism, away from emotions," it said in a statement.

The statement also said that the "charges were proven" against the woman for having been in a car with a strange male, and repeated criticism of her lawyer for talking "defiantly" about the judicial system, saying "it has shown ignorance."

The woman's lawyer, Abdul Rahman al-Lahem, reached out to the media. The court has since banned him from further defending the woman, confiscating his license and summoning him to a disciplinary hearing later this month.

The justice ministry implied the victim's sentence was increased because she had spoken out to the press. "For whoever has an objection on verdicts issued, the system allows to appeal without resorting to the media," said the statement carried on the official Saudi Press Agency.

The rape took place in 2006. The victim said it occurred as she tried to retrieve her picture from a male high school student she used to know.

While in a 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.

The case was referred back to the General Court by an appeals court last summer, after the woman's lawyer contested the initial verdict, saying it was too lenient for the rapists and unjust for the victim.