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Appeal your verdict, double your sentence
by Scott Gilbreath ~ November 5th, 2008
A Saudi Arabian court has sentenced an Egyptian doctor to 15 years’ imprisonment and 1500 lashes for allegedly causing a Saudi princess under his care to become addicted to morphine. Dr Raouf Amin denies the charge, insisting she was already addicted before he began treating her.
Get this: A lower court sentenced him to seven years and 750 lashes. Then he appealed the ruling to a higher court where his sentence was doubled, as if penalising him for exercising his right to appeal.
In Egypt, human rights groups are up in arms, as is the Doctors’ Syndicate.
Doctor Raouf Amin, 53, is being whipped at the rate of 10-15 lashes a week during a 15-year jail term, said Hamdy El-Sayyed, head of the Doctors’ Syndicate. He was charged with giving the woman morphine to ease her pain following a riding accident, which allegedly turned her into an addict.
El-Sayyed described Amin’s trial as unfair and his sentence — doubled on appeal from 750 lashes and seven years prison — as torture.
“We condemn this verdict in the strongest terms and we are making contact with officials in Cairo and Saudi Arabia, as well as [Egyptian President Hosni] Mubarak for them to intervene,” El-Sayyed told AFP.
“He did not have a fair trial; there was not even any adequate medical expert opinion. … This judgment is more about torture than justice and does not correspond with any kind of law, human rights or even Sharia (Islamic law).
The Egyptian foreign ministry says it is working to have Dr Amin returned to his home country, but would not release any details.
Amin’s family in Egypt say that Saudi Arabia will not give them permission to visit him in prison; they can’t even speak to him on the telephone.
h/t: Global Voices Online
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November 5th, 2008 at 03:49 PM
[...] SAUDI JUSTICE: “Appeal your verdict, double your sentence” …. [...]