Saudi Arabia: Free Detainee in ‘Eye-for-an-Eye’ Case

Email Judicial authorities in Saudi Arabia should take urgent steps to end the indefinite detention of a man who can’t raise the money to compensate an attack victim. Ali al-Khawahar, 31, completed a six-year criminal sentence in 2010 as punishment for a January 14, 2004 incident in which he stabbed a childhood friend in the back near his spinal cord. The stabbing left the friend permanently paralyzed. In addition to the criminal sentence, he also faced a Qisas, or “equal retaliation” judgment, which under Saudi law stipules a direct “eye-for-an-eye” physical punishment or payment of compensation…

© Human Rights Watch - samedi 13 avril 2013