Fucking hell. The Saudis are digging in.
Saudi Arabia has expressed “surprise and dismay” at international media reports criticising the flogging of a Saudi blogger for insulting Islam.
In its first official statement on the case the foreign ministry said it rejected any interference in its internal affairs.
…
The foreign ministry said it could not accept any impingement on the country’s sovereignty, or on the impartiality of its judiciary system.
“The kingdom unequivocally rejects any aggression under the pretext of human rights,” it added.
It’s not a pretext, you callous piece of shit.
Germany’s economic affairs minister and vice-chancellor, Sigmar Gabriel, currently on a visit to Saudi Arabia, was urged by MPs and human rights organisations to take up Mr Badawi’s case while in Riyadh.
Before going into a meeting with King Salman, Mr Gabriel said “the harshness of this sentence, especially the corporal punishment, is something unimaginable for us and of course it weighs on our relations”.
That, yes, but so does the complete lack of anything resembling a crime. The criminalization of a perfectly reasonable and legitimate view on religion is abhorrent.
Saudi Arabia enforces a strict version of Islamic law and does not tolerate political dissent. It has some of the highest social media usage rates in the region, and has cracked down on domestic online criticism.
Saudi Arabia is a fascist theocracy. It’s hell on earth. Let’s not mince words.
Of course, corporal punishment for lack of something resembling a crime is a pattern in Saudi Arabia. There are so many wrong headed convictions and punishments there, it would be difficult to know where to begin. If we draw enough attention to Raif, maybe that will cast a brighter light on some of the other cases, as well.
Right, Saudi Arabia is world-renowned for its impartial judiciary system. Prosecuting bloggers for “insulting Islam” and women for being raped isn’t at all partial.
Of course the Saudi regime is surprised and dismayed that they’re being publicly criticized by some representatives of other governments. They’re accustomed to silence, appeasement, complicity, and obsequiousness.
That is fucking rich to hear from a regime that thinks nothing of whipping and possibly executing people for merely expressing a contrary opinion.
SA is well acquainted with duplicity. Many publicly devout men have a wet bar, mistresses, and engage in decidedly unislamic activities behind closed doors. They also are quite willing to lavish huge sums of money to smooth over discrepancies and conflicts.
As a matter of policy they have a very generous welfare state to help smooth things out.
I had a job offer there and the list of things allowed in the contractors compound was slightly more libertine than what is allowed in most US red light districts. The understanding was that none of this was done, or spoken of, in public and taking it over the fence would subject you to punishment up to and including death. As long as one of the main clans doesn’t object western contract employees are routinely given an opportunity to flee the country after you pay a $100,000 to $500,000 fine.
A friend accused of off compound excesses was dragged into a police station, given a light thrashing and threatened with death. The contractor quietly paid $150,000 and the man found that after another questioning the door to his cell was left ajar. Taking advantage of this he slipped past a police officer who seemed deeply distracted by paperwork and out the front door where he found a friendly but insistent taxi driver who insisted he get in. He was driven to the airport where he was drive past customs and directly to the boarding ladder. He was the last person to board an airliner that had been delayed. Once in the US he learned he had been declared persona non-Grata by SA and if he ever went back he would be beheaded.
It is clear that SA might be hell for the poor who are unwilling to comply, or work very hard to keep their non-compliance under wraps. But if you have the connections or cash, the rules, or at least the punishment, might be sidestepped.
Wow, it’s like they’ve just discovered the “your attempting to stop us from oppressing people is oppressing us” line of reasoning – favored by idiots everywhere.