Saudi Arabia abolishes flogging sentence

King Salman in Riyadh on October 14, 2019. Alexander Zemlianichenko / Pool via REUTERS

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It was the Saudi Supreme Court that served this decision on the courts of the kingdom, information relayed by the government press. The flogging was a physical punishment hitherto inflicted within the framework of certain convictions, notably for murder or adultery.

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In 2014, Saudi blogger Raif Badawi was sentenced to 1,000 lashes in addition to his ten-year prison sentence for apostasy. One case among others of the use of flogging in the Saudi judicial system.

But whips are now a thing of the past. "  The Supreme Court decided in April to remove flogging among the sentences that judges can decide  ," said the highest judicial body in the kingdom in a document that AFP could consult. 

A decision welcomed by the very official Human Rights Commission of the kingdom which specifies that convicts awaiting the execution of their flogging sentence will see it commuted to prison term or a fine for "  complying with international human rights standards" human  [prohibiting]  corporal punishment  . "

Record number of executions

There are other reasons why Saudi Arabia is regularly criticized by human rights organizations such as the death penalty. Saudi Arabia carried out 184 beheadings last year,  a record annual toll according to Amnesty International.

The kingdom is also singled out for arbitrary imprisonment to silence any dissenting voice. We learned in particular this week of the death in prison of human rights activist Abdallah al-Hamid, victim of a stroke while serving a sentence of eleven years in prison.

. @ amnesty mourns the death in detention of Dr Abdullah al-Hamid, a fearless champion for #HumanRights in #SaudiArabia and throughout the Middle East. https://t.co/SwGHciLx1u #HumanRightsDefender

  Avner Gidron (@AvnerGidron) April 24, 2020

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  • Saudi Arabia
  • Justice
  • Human rights

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