Middle East Focus: Saudi Confessions: Will they Chop his Head? RNC Prospects……….

Arabia Deserta

Saudi Confessions: Will they Chop his Head? RNC Prospects……….

“The sorcerer still has his head. But for how long? For more than two years, Ali Hussain Sibat of Lebanon has been held in a prison in Saudi Arabia, convicted of sorcery and sentenced to death. His head is to be chopped off by an executioner wielding a long, curved sword. His crime: manipulating spirits, predicting the future, concocting potions and conjuring spells on a call-in television show called “The Hidden” on a Lebanese channel, Scheherazade. It was, in effect, a Middle Eastern psychic hot line. “Sorcery is the ability to influence matters that affect people’s lives through the use of spirits,” said Abdulaziz AlGasim, a retired Saudi judge. “It is impossible to prove such an act except through confession, and confessions are suspect.” The authorities say that Mr. Sibat confessed……… There has been little public outcry in Saudi Arabia over the case, which is considered rather ordinary, according to political experts in the capital, Riyadh……...”

There is never an outcry inside Saudi Arabia over anything that the system does. Saudi media, owned or controlled by the ruling oligarchy, has studiously ignored this case and the international furor it has caused. The Saudi people would find out about the absurdity of this case only from foreign media (many of them do not think it so absurd either).

As for confessions, they always get them in these police states of the Middle East, either by false promises of release or , more likely, through threats and beatings and torture. A confession is the only way to get a conviction in many cases, given the lousy detective work done, given the flimsy cases they have. Especially in cases of illicit sex and adultery, a confession is the only way to convict.
Islamic law makes it tough to convict: it requires four male witnesses, or eight female witnesses, or any combination thereof as proof of adultery. They have to actually witness “the act” of copulation. Now who would perform intercourse in front of four men or eight women, or any combination thereof? (This is something the Republican National Committee would probably like to know for their next entertainment outing).
This Lebanese Shi’a man is lucky his case is has attracted international attention. He may have a chance now: otherwise his head would have been chopped as public pre-lunch entertainment weeks ago.
Cheers
mhg

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