Lebanese Man Convicted of Witchcraft Dodges Beheading

Lebanese man Ali Hussain Sabit, imprisoned in Saudi Arabia since 2008 for practising witchcraft, averted being beheaded last Friday for the conviction. Human rights advocacy group Amnesty International, along with Sabit’s lawyer, May al-Khansa, successfully petitioned the Saudi government to halt the execution.

Sabit was arrested in 2008 in Saudi Arabia after travelling there on the religious pilgrimage ‘umrat.’ The arrest was triggered by Sibat’s Beirut TV program that he produced prior to his travels, on which he made predictions deemed as pagan-like future telling by Saudi government officials. He has been in Saudi prison since on charges of sorcery and witchcraft, offences punishable by death in the nation that upholds a constitution based on extreme interpretations of Islamic law as laid out in the Qu’ran.

Saudi law permits capital punishment for a number of crimes, such as homosexuality, idolatry, drug smuggling, and witchcraft. The most popular way of carrying out the punishment is by beheading with a sword. Executions are usually staged in the large, open Deera Square in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, commonly known as Chop Chop Square. The most recent execution for sorcery was in 2007 when an Egyptian national was arrested in Saudi Arabia for the crime.

Saudi prisoners are usually oblivious to the fact that a decision has been made to execute them. Those awaiting conviction and sentencing are usually imprisoned while the delegations are carried out. In Saudi courts, defendants are most often represented by the judge presiding over the case, who questions the prosecution. Lawyers are scarcely allowed to represent defendants, making Sabit’s situation a rarity.

In recent years Amnesty International and other human rights advocacy groups have been pressing Saudi Arabia, and other middle eastern countries that use capital punishment for minor, non-life threatening crimes, to cease the practise. The Saudi government upholds that beheading is a traditional practise and, in following with the national government’s interpretation of Islamic Law, or Sharia, is humane.

Sabit’s beheading was halted, but some reports are explaining that it was not officially cancelled by the Saudi government. It is possible that it was only postponed, as for right now, in response to international attention to the publicised case.

With sources from voanews.com and gulfnews.com

Originally published by campusintel.com