Corpun file 21108

Saudi Gazette, Jeddah, 2 February 2009

Stubborn Saudia flight smoker to get 30 lashes

By Adnan Shabrawi

JEDDAH -- A man who stubbornly smoked on a Saudi Arabian Airlines (SAA or Saudia) domestic flight was given a court verdict of 30 lashes here Sunday.

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The Sudanese man had refused to stub out his cigarette despite repeated warnings from the flight crew members during a flight from Qurayat to Jeddah.

When the plane landed at King Abdul Aziz Airport in Jeddah, the man was handed over to police.

The Commission for Investigation and Prosecution gathered evidence and sent the man on trial. In court, the man apologized and said he was visiting an anti-smoking clinic.

Smoking on SAA domestic flights was banned some two decades ago. In 1999, SAA made its international flights smoke-free.

In April 2008, a court in the Eastern Province sentenced a man to 50 lashes for smoking on board a Dammam-Riyadh Saudia flight. -- Okaz/SG

All Rights Reserved. © Jeddah: 6760000

Corpun file 21107

Arab News, Jeddah/Riyadh, 3 February 2009

Abu Kab given 20 years, lashes

By Fatima Sidiya
Arab News

JEDDAH: The fate of Faisal Al-Otaibi, a Saudi naval officer found guilty of causing the death of three boys in a stunt-driving accident in 2005, was revealed yesterday when a Jeddah court sentenced the man to 3,000 lashes, 20 years in prison and a lifetime ban on driving.

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Judge Muhammad Amin Mirdad issued the verdict to the relief of the Al-Otaibi's lawyer and the dismay of the parents of two of the boys who were seeking to have a previous death sentence upheld in the appeals process.

Al-Otaibi, known in the media by nickname "Abu Kab" -- which means roughly "the guy with the baseball cap" -- has been fighting to keep from being executed for the deaths of three young passengers in his vehicle.

The deaths were attributed to Al-Otaibi losing control of his vehicle during a stunt-driving maneuver. Stunt driving, or joyriding as it is called here, is a popular pastime among Saudi youths.

Bader Khethela, the father of two of the three boys killed in that accident (Ahmad, 14, and Abdul Aziz, 11) has been seeking the execution of Al-Otaibi as an exertion of his family's private right under Shariah: The choice between accepting blood money (diyah) or insisting on the death penalty.

The family of the other boy that was killed has forgiven Al-Otaibi by giving up their private rights claims to either execution or diyah. Khethela, however, wants the man executed.

"I refuse to accept diyah," Khethela said to Arab News yesterday, angered over the verdict that he called "unfair and unjust to my (deceased) kids."

"These judges should prescribe only a fair judgment with which they can face Allah," he added.

Khethela received treatment yesterday after suffering a nervous breakdown after the verdict was issued.

The case pitted the Court of Cassation against a local Jeddah Summary Court. The Cassation Court has stood by its belief that the death penalty is too strong a punishment for a case of negligence that led to the death of the boys, who reportedly were participating in the joyriding meet-up on their own volition. (Khethela rejects this and claims his boys were "kidnapped.")

The Jeddah court, however, has maintained that it's the responsibility of the judicial authorities to issue strong punishments against this growing trend of public stunt driving that has led to numerous deaths and injuries in recent years.

However, the Cassation Court must approve death sentences; without its endorsement, the execution is blocked. The Khethela family has vowed to continue to fight the Cassation Court's decision.

Al-Otaibi's lawyer, Khalid Abu Rashed, has maintained that he believes his client is guilty and should be punished, but that the death penalty is a step too far.

In other cases of death caused by stunt driving, perpetrators have been sentenced to jail time as little as six months and the payment of diyah.

In 2006, a stunt-driver caused the death of four young Saudi men who happened to be driving in the area of a joyriding meet. He was sentenced to five years in prison by a Riyadh court.

The result of this verdict may be used as a precedent in current and future trials related to joyriding fatalities.

Corpun file 21106

Saudi Gazette, Jeddah, 10 February 2009

Sawa scam: Six men get 30 years and lashes

By Muhammad Hadhadh

JEDDAH -- Six people were on Monday sentenced to 30 years in prison in the infamous Sawa (pre-paid phone cards) scam involving millions of riyals. Two security men who were among those sentenced on Monday have appealed the verdict. The court deferred verdict on the third security official.

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Five among those sentenced were accused of tempting investors including their employees and for their involvement in protecting prime accused Aziz Al-Jihani.

The judge ordered M. Al-Amri, considered the biggest fish in the scam, to return SR140 million to the court's account to be distributed among the investors. Al-Amri will also get 300 lashes. Another accused M. Al-Shamrani got five years in jail and 300 lashes.

Hisham Hanbouli, lawyer of Al-Jihani said he was satisfied with the verdict.

Al-Jihani and his accomplices allegedly cheated about 30 investors of SR1.3 billion three years ago. During his trial, he had promised to return SR800 million to the investors. He said other promoters of the fake project appropriated the remaining amount. -- Okaz/SG

All Rights Reserved. © Jeddah: 6760000

Corpun file 21105

Saudi Gazette, Jeddah, 12 February 2009

3 robbers get 13 years, 6,500 lashes

By Mohammad Al-Sorai'ee

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BISHAH -- The General Court here sentenced three robbers to 13 years jail and 6,500 slashes for trying to pull out an Automatic Teller Machine (ATM) containing a million riyals a year ago. One of the robbers received five years jail and 2,500 lashes while the other two received four years jail and 2,000 lashes and their car was confiscated. The robbers regretted their action but claimed that the punishment was too harsh. They said in their defense that they did not have any criminal record. The robbery was foiled when a truck driver saw the three trying to pull out the ATM on Bishah-Samakh Road and called the police. -- Okaz/SG

All Rights Reserved. © Jeddah: 6760000

Corpun file 21109

ADN Kronos International, Italy, 18 February 2009

Saudi Arabia

Man to receive 8,000 lashes for daughter's rape

Riyadh, 18 Feb. (AKI) - A Saudi court has sentenced a man to ten years in prison and 8,000 lashes after he was found guilty of sexual violence against his daughter. According to a report in the Saudi newspaper, al-Shams, the 40-year-old man was arrested recently when he was allegedly found to be raping a young girl who later turned out to be his daughter.

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The man was discovered during a routine police patrol on the streets of the city after they found a car parked in a hidden location close to where three children were playing with a balloon.

The police noticed there was something strange going on inside the vehicle and went towards it to check what was happening.

"I discovered the man while he was having sex with the girl," a police officer said. " Having realised what was going on, I arrested him and took him to the police station in the al-Azizia district."

The man, who was reportedly separated from his wife, suffers from psychological problems and was immediately sent to a court in Mecca where he was sentenced.

Corpun file 21110

Arab News, Jeddah/Riyadh, 19 February 2009

Teenager sentenced to jail, lashes for blackmailing girl

By Faiz Al-Mazrouei
Arab News

DAMMAM: A court in Al-Ahsa has sentenced a 19-year-old Saudi youth to five years' imprisonment and 500 lashes for blackmailing a girl and threatening to publish her photos if she did not go out with him.

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Col. Yousuf Al-Qahtani, spokesman for the Eastern Province police, said the teenager was caught by the Commission for the Promotion of Virtue and the Prevention of Vice after the girl's brother filed a complaint last month.

He said the court also ordered the young man to return all of the girl's photos and that if any of her pictures were to appear after that a more severe punishment would be handed out.

Al-Qahtani said the harsh sentence was aimed at deterring others from blackmailing young girls, especially since the prevalence of such crimes has increased of late.

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