Job Discussion Forums

[johnslat]

"Saudi Arabia beheads woman for 'sorcery'" (13 December, 2011)

"A Saudi woman has been beheaded after being convicted of practising sorcery, which is banned in the conservative Gulf kingdom, the country's interior ministry said.

Amina bint Abdul Halim bin Salem Nasser was executed on Monday in the northern province of Jawf for "practising witchcraft and sorcery", the ministry said in a statement carried by SPA, Saudi Arabia's state news agency.

The ministry gave no further details of the charges for which the woman was convicted.

London-based newspaper al-Hayat quoted a member of the Saudi religious police as saying Nasser was in her 60s. The official claimed she had tricked people into giving her money, claiming that she could cure their illnesses.

According to the report, she apparently charged up to $800 a session.

Amnesty International said the beheading brought the number of executions in the kingdom to 73 this year. Another woman was beheaded in October for killing her husband by setting his house on fire.

There are no available statistics on how many women have been executed in Saudi Arabia.

'Truly appalling'

Amnesty condemned Monday's execution as "truly appalling", and called on Saudi Arabia to urgently halt the practice.

"The charges of 'witchcraft and sorcery' are not defined as crimes in Saudi Arabia", Philip Luther, Amnesty's interim director of the Middle East and North Africa, said.


"To use them to subject someone to the cruel and extreme penalty of execution is truly appalling," he added in a statement, which stressed the "urgent need" to stop executions.


("The charge of sorcery has often been used in Saudi Arabia to punish people, generally after unfair trials, for exercising their right to freedom of speech or religion"

- Philip Luther,
Amnesty's interim director of the Middle East and North Africa)

Rape, murder, apostasy, armed robbery and drug trafficking are all punishable by death in Saudi Arabia.

Saudi Arabia is an absolute monarchy with no written criminal code. Its law is based on a form of Islamic sharia law, as interpreted by the country's judges.

Amnesty has reported that Saudi Arabia executed 27 convicts in 2010, compared to 67 executions announced the year before. Luther described the increasing number of executions in Saudi Arabia as "deeply disturbing" .

Many of those executed have had no defence lawyer and are not informed about the legal proceedings against them, according to Amnesty.

"While we don't know the details of the acts which the authorities accused Amina of committing, the charge of sorcery has often been used in Saudi Arabia to punish people, generally after unfair trials, for exercising their right to freedom of speech or religion," Luther said.

Earlier this month, Amnesty accused the oil-rich kingdom of conducting a campaign of repression against protesters and reformists since the Arab Spring erupted 12 months ago.

The rights group said Saudi Arabia was one of a minority of states which voted against a UN General Assembly resolution last December calling for a worldwide moratorium on executions."

http://www.aljazeera.com/news/middleeast/2011/12/2011121302059182183.html


Regards,
John

[It's Scary!]

Abdullah "rocks"...anyone? Thought not!

It's a "smart" guy who eagerly shows his ignorance!

[johnslat]

Is anyone else puzzled by this?

"Amnesty has reported that Saudi Arabia executed 27 convicts in 2010, compared to 67 executions announced the year before. Luther described the increasing number of executions in Saudi Arabia as "deeply disturbing".

By the way, the US also voted against the moratorium

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:2008_UN_death_penalty_moratorium_votes.svg

Regards,
John

[sharter]

Simply barbaric, immoral and disgusting.

[cmp45]

[sharter]

The beheading of anyone is barbaric. To do it for conning people, which is what she did, is evil.

[ultraman111]

[cmp45]

Definition of SORCERY
1: the use of power gained from the assistance or control of evil spirits especially for divining : necromancy

Although I do not agree with beheading someone for crimes committed and agree with sharter's sentiments...sorcery is also evil, barbaric, immoral and disgusting. Although it's hard to know all the facts of the story from the article. She must have been aware of the consequences of this type of practice in KSA, even if she was only conning people; play with fire and you get burnt. Practice sorcery in KSA you get your head chopped off! Especially in an Islamic country whose laws are strictly based upon religon. Like it or not you have to play by the Kingdom's rules, if you choose to live here. In many areas of Africa sorcery is readily and openly practiced. When I worked in rural Africa, I witnessed first hand this evil destructive force. It's pure evil, it's real and can wreak alot of hell in one's life.

[bulgogiboy]

[bulgogiboy]

[johnslat]

Dear bulgogiboy,

Bernie Madoff comers to mind:

in a sentiment repeated by many victims, Boca Raton, Fla., resident Stephanie Halio wrote: "Please allow justice to be served by not allowing this monster to receive anything but the maximum sentence. If he were to go to jail for a thousand years it would not be enough to compensate for his crimes."

Leonard Forrest, 80, of Port St. Lucie, Fla., said he and his wife lost their entire life savings, aggravating already existing health problems.

"He deserves at best to spend the rest of his life in prison just as we will spend the rest of our lives in financial ruin and emotional and physical devastation," he wrote.

Many of the letters detail how the loss of their savings exacerbated other problems � divorce, cancer, sick children, parents or spouses already in the throes of dementia. Others talk about how they dreamed of being able to send their children or grandchildren to college � dreams that were wiped out by Madoff�s scheme."

Regards,
John

[RachelW]

Should we really believe that a police force that arrests magicians and puts them to capital punishment are really uncivilized barbarians?

Well... then all of our grandparents and ancestors in the Western (advanced) world are a bunch of uncivilized barbarians based on that. They used to arrest people for magic and put them to death as well.

Was that back when old great grandma and grandpa were barbarians? Or is it really the case that society back then was actually better, more wholesome, less corrupt, and more honest...?

Can we consider that we have been forcefed the idea that magic is mere fiction, and thus having no basis in reality.... And that anyone who believes in the effects of a magic spell is a moron?

To me it seems like arrogant (but technilogically advanced) morons who would point the finger at morally upstanding people like our own forefathers and call them a bunch of idiots and/or barbarians because they understood magic was a real act that harmed people and even killed them, and sought to protect their societies from it.

Today we have people suffering from SO MANY different "medical" afflictions, and they exhaust the best specialists in the world and can't find a "medical reason" for the illness. Arrogantly, they call anyone who would suggest the idea of magic having being put on them a fool, and continue searching for medical treatments until they die.

I mean - is it a must that a society that believes in the real harms of magic, and deals with the magicians to protect their society, a bucnh of barbarians?

ALSO - Look up the three ways that people in the West (like the US) are put to death and compare it with beheading.

GAS CHAMBER - suffering, vomitting, torment with a slow death

ELECTRIC CHAIR - same, but instead of vomiting, its screaming, eyes popping out, skin smoking...

LETHAL INJECTION - slow doses of increasing levels of toxins causing horrible suffering

BEHEADING - schlomp, bye bye

Food for thought... OK now back to JOBS in Saudi Arabia remember?

[BretHarte]

[cmp45]

[cmp45]

double posted by accident