Saudi Arabia abolishes flogging as form of punishment News
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Saudi Arabia abolishes flogging as form of punishment

Saudi Arabia’s Supreme Court announced on Saturday that it was abolishing flogging as a form of punishment, as part of reforms aimed to advance human rights in Saudi Arabia.

These reforms follow “unprecedented international criticism” that Saudi Arabia received in 2019 for its human rights record, which included 184 executions, 84 of which were for non-violent drug crimes.

This decision follows years of condemnation from civil rights groups, especially following the high-profile flogging of Saudi blogger Raif Badawi in 2012 and 2013. Badawi was sentenced to 1,000 floggings and 10 years in prison. 

Court-ordered floggings sometimes extended to hundreds of lashes, and the punishment could be imposed for offenses ranging from extramarital sex and breach of the peace to murder. In the future, the courts will have to choose between fines, imprisonment, or non-custodial alternatives, such as community service.

This decision is the latest step in a series of reforms to modernize the country’s legal system.

 

THIS DAY @ LAW

UN calls for UK, France and Israel to leave Egypt

On November 7, 1956, the United Nations General Assembly approved Resolution 1001, which called on the United Kingdom, France and Israel to pull all of their military forces out of Egypt. The Resolution came during the Suez Canal crisis, during which Israel invaded Egypt with the support of the U.K. and France, after Egyptian President Gamal Nasser nationalized the Suez Canal. Read Resolution 1001.