| Topic: |
Religions > Atheism |
| User: |
"Fredric L. Rice" |
| Date: |
19 Nov 2005 04:22:06 AM |
| Object: |
Remember the terrorists that attacked the US? |
November 17, 2005
Saudi Teacher Sentenced to 750 Lashes
By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
Filed at 12:18 p.m. ET
DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) -- A Saudi high-school chemistry teacher
accused of discussing religion with his students has been sentenced to 750
lashes and 40 months in prison for blasphemy, officials said Thursday.
The court ruling was condemned by human rights activists, who said Mohammed
Salamah al-Harbi was being imprisoned for having an ''open discussion''
with students.
Al-Harbi was convicted of questioning and ridiculing Islam, discussing the
Bible and defending Jews, judicial officials said Thursday on condition of
anonymity because they were not authorized to talk to the media.
Prosecutors acted after a complaint by students and al-Harbi's fellow
teachers, officials said. The court in the northern province of al-Qassim
heard the case Saturday in a six-hour trial.
Al-Harbi was in prison Thursday, but the Saudi newspaper Al-Madinah
reported him as saying he would appeal the verdict.
''There are charges that the judge read which are unknown to me, such as
defending Jews and the Bible, ridiculing Islam and witchcraft. It's strange
that the judge ruled so quickly and wanted to end the case so fast,''
al-Harbi was quoted as saying.
His lawyer, Abdul Rahman al-Lahem, refused to talk to The Associated Press
because of the sensitivity of the case, but he was quoted as telling
Al-Madinah the judge refused his request to postpone the trial to allow
time for a proper defense.
''The judge's refusal to read a statement by witnesses is a violation of
the defendant's rights,'' al-Lahem was quoted as saying in Sunday's
edition.
New York-based Human Rights Watch said al-Harbi had been ''talking to his
pupils about his views on a number of current topics, such as Christianity,
Judaism and the causes of terrorism.''
''The Saudi government is imprisoning schoolteachers for having open
discussions with their students,'' said Sarah Leah Whitson, the group's
Middle East director said in a statement Thursday. ''As long as
schoolteachers face persecution for doing their job, Saudi children will
lose out.''
Al-Harbi's sentence likely will be seen as a setback to Saudi moves to
reform its education system. Following the Sept. 11 attacks in the United
States, the government altered the school curriculum to remove passages
from textbooks that were offensive to Christians and Jews in an attempt to
encourage moderation and tolerance.
Fifteen of the 19 hijackers in those attacks were Saudis. Local
intellectuals and newspaper columnists said the strict Islamic tenets
followed in schools and mosques could have played a role in fostering
Islamic militancy.
---
http://www.ElmerFudd.US/ http://www.rightard.org/ http://www.thedarkwind.org/
"We're going to sue your *****, AND your balls!" -- Scientology's leader
.
|
|
| User: "Desertphile" |
|
| Title: Re: Remember the terrorists that attacked the US? |
19 Nov 2005 01:14:13 PM |
|
|
''The Saudi government is imprisoning schoolteachers for having open
discussions with their students,''
The Bush2 regime wants the same for the USA.
.
|
|
|
| User: "stoney" |
|
| Title: Re: Remember the terrorists that attacked the US? |
19 Nov 2005 07:46:29 PM |
|
|
On 19 Nov 2005 05:14:13 -0800, "Desertphile" <desertphile@hotmail.com>
wrote:
''The Saudi government is imprisoning schoolteachers for having open
discussions with their students,''
The Bush2 regime wants the same for the USA.
They've already started that.
--
Contempt of Congress meter reading-offscale.
Hello, theocracy with a fundamentalist US Supreme
Court who will ensure church and state are joined
at the hip like clergy and altar boys.
America 1776-Jan 2001 RIP
"As democracy is perfected, the office of president
represents, more and more closely, the inner soul
of the people. On some great and glorious day the
plain folks of the land will reach their heart's
desire at last and the White House will be adorned
by a downright moron." --- H.L. Mencken (1880 - 1956)
Religion is the original war crime.
-Michelle Malkin (Feb 26, 2005)
.
|
|
|
|
|
|
Related Articles |
|
|
