Five Saudi men sentenced to 32 years in prison and 4,500 lashes for holding a Valentine’s Day party with ‘unrelated women, drinking and dancing’
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Five Saudi men sentenced to 32 years in prison and 4,500 lashes for holding a Valentine’s Day party with ‘unrelated women, drinking and dancing’
- The men were arrested by the Commission for the Promotion of Virtue and the Prevention of Vice
- All five have admitted to the charge of unauthorized seclusion with unrelated women, dancing and drinking
- A judge will decide the fate of the six women caught with the men
Five Saudi men have been sentenced to 32 years in prison and 4,500 lashes by a criminal court in Saudi Arabia – for holding a Valentine’s Day party.
The lawbreakers were caught in a rented rest home in the Al-Farouq district Buraidah Qassim province And accused of having a party with women unrelated to them, drinking and dancing.
Police of the Commission for the Promotion of Virtue and the Prevention of Vice (CPVPV) collected the men using security patrols for their offenses along with six women on February 14.
Banned: Saudi men were banned from using camera phones for a period of time for fear that men would use them to secretly photograph women and publish them on the internet without the subjects’ consent
The men have all admitted to the charges, which included unauthorized seclusion with unrelated women, dancing and drinking.
A judge will decide the fate of the six women.
The Commission for the Promotion of Virtue and the Prevention of Vice is the religious police or mutaween (meaning devout) of the Saudi Arabian government to enforce Sharia law within the Islamic nation.
In total, it has 3,500 to 4,000 police officers who enforce a strict religious code among citizens.
Members patrol the streets and monitor the dress code, the strict separation of men and women, the salaat prayer by Muslims during the prayer times and other behaviors that are imposed by Islam according to Islam.
The mutaween (CPVPV) Are known for their full beards and loose headscarves (ghutrah or shemagh) without agal and often come from the lower classes of Saudi Arabia.
The body has widespread powers to detain and berate offenders and shut down businessesd are directly employed by the King. The organization’s budget for 2013 was the equivalent of $390 million.
In a separate case Raif Badawia Saudi blogger recently came into disrepute with the authorities and faces ten years in prison, a thousand lashes and a fine of one million riyals for ‘insulting Islam’.
Mr. Badawi’ was arrested in June 2012 and charged with cybercrime and disobeying his father – a crime in Saudi Arabia – in relation to his Saudi Liberal Network website.
According to Human Rights Watch, the site contained articles critical of high-ranking religious figures such as the Grand Mufti of Saudi Arabia.
He was originally sentenced to seven years in prison and 600 lashes, but an appeals court overturned that sentence and ordered a new trial.
Amnesty International called the new sentence “outrageous” and said Badawi is a “prisoner of conscience”. His website has been closed since his first lawsuit.
King Abdullah: The king employs a religious police force to enforce behavior contrary to strict Islamic rule and this has even affected bloggers like Raif Badawi, right, who faces 10 years in prison for insulting Islam
Citizens of Saudi Arabia are constantly encouraged to inform about others breaking the law.
The penalties for many offenses are severe, often involving beatings and humiliations, and foreigners are not barred from arrest.
THE STRICT SHARIA LAW NOT TO BE BROKEN IN SAUDI ARABIA
- Tthey prevent the population from indulging in ‘frivolous’ Western customs such as Valentine’s Day
- They ensure that drugs, including alcohol, are not trafficked
- They check whether women wear the abaya, a traditional all-enveloping black cloak
- They ensure that men and women who are spotted together in public are related
- They make sure women don’t smoke in public
- A ban on camera phones was enacted in 2004, but was lifted the same year
Middle East Ally: David Cameron receives an honor from King Abdullah. Human Rights Watch says Saudi Arabia, a staunch ally of the West in the Middle East, has a long history of suppressing free speech
Philip Luther, director of the Middle East and North Africa program at Amnesty International, urged Saudi authorities to quash blogger Badawi’s conviction.
“The decision to sentence Raif Badawi to 10 years in prison and 1,000 lashes is outrageous,” he said.
Human Rights Watch said Saudi Arabia, a staunch ally of the West in the Middle East, has a long history of suppressing free speech.
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