Sudanese man executed in Saudi Arabia for ’witchcraft and sorcery’
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By Toby Collins
September 21, 2011 (LONDON) – A migrant worker from Sudan was beheaded
by sword in Medina by the Saudi government for practising occultism on
Monday, despite the efforts of international lobbyists.
JPEG - 9.1 kb
Execution by beheading, Saudi Arabia (Amnesty International)
The Saudi Ministry of Interior announced the execution of Abdul Hamid
bin Hussein Mostafa al-Fakki for the crime of "witchcraft and
sorcery", which contravenes shariah law, according to the Saudi
Gazette.
It was reported by the Egyptian news agency, Bikya Masr, that the
court accused al-Fakki of "producing a spell designed to lead to the
reconciliation of his client’s divorced parents."
Since al-Fakki’s arrest in 2005 and conviction in 2007 the
London-based human rights advocacy organisation Amnesty International
(AI) have been gravely concerned about his fate.
Philip Luther, Deputy Director of Amnesty International’s Middle East
and North Africa programme said al-Fakki was "convicted solely for the
peaceful exercise of his rights to freedom of expression and
religion".
AI claim al-Fakki was entrapped by a member of the Saudi religious
police claiming that he would pay 6,000 Saudi Arabian riyals
(US$1,600) for a spell which would make his father divorce his second
wife and return to the agente provacateur’s biological mother.
According to AI, there have been 44 executions so far this year in
Saudi Arabia, in comparison to 27 the year before.
In 2010 AI estimated Saudi Arabia was the 6th most prolific state
executer after the US, Yemen, North Korea, Iran and most zealous of
them all, China which executed more than the rest of the world
combined.
In 2009 the Lebanese talk show host, Ali Hussain Sibat, was sentenced
to death for sorcery because he claimed to predict the future on his
TV show. In 2010 the charges were dropped by Saudi authorities, then
reinstated and he was given temporary reprieve.
“Sorcery isn’t actually defined as a crime in Saudi Arabian law, but
it’s been used to punish people for the peaceful expression of human
rights such as the freedom of thought, belief, conscience and
expression. In fact, scores of people were arrested for sorcery in
2009”, claim AI.
In 2005 an Indian man was sentenced by a Saudi court to have his eye
gouged out for his involvement in a brawl.
At least 27 people have been executed so far this year - a surge since
last year and concentrated around the period after the holy month of
ramadan.
In June 2011 an Indonesian woman was beheaded for the alleged murder
of a Saudi Arabian woman.
In the Saudi gamete of capital punishment is stoning, firing squad and
posthumous crucifixion; and for corporal punishment there is
amputation and lashing.
(ST)
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