Saudi woman to be flogged for driving
A Saudi woman has been sentenced to 10 whip lashes for driving a car in defiance of the ban on female drivers and another woman has been arrested in this connection, says an activist.
An activist said on condition of anonymity on Tuesday that Sheima Jastaniah was sentenced one day earlier by a Jeddah court, where she was caught driving in July, AFP reported.
The activist added that Jastaniah ”had refused to talk to media about her trial and we were shocked yesterday (Monday) that she was sentenced to 10 lashes.”
Amnesty International (AI) has condemned the sentence, describing it as ”discrimination against women in the kingdom.”
Middle East and North Africa deputy director of AI, Philip Luther, said, ”Flogging is a cruel punishment in all circumstances but it beggars belief that the authorities in Saudi Arabia have imposed lashes on a woman apparently for merely driving a car.”
On Sunday, Saudi King Abdullah announced that women will be given the right to vote and run in municipal elections for the first time in the country.
”Belatedly allowing women to vote in council elections is all well and good, but if they are still going to face being flogged for trying to exercise their right to freedom of movement then the king’s much-trumpeted 'reforms' actually amount to very little,” Luther added.
Meanwhile, women rights activist Madiha al-Ajrush was detained briefly on Tuesday in the capital Riyadh after she was caught driving around the city.
In June, a group of defiant Saudi women got behind the wheels of their cars in response to calls for nationwide action to break the ban.
In addition to driving prohibition, women in Saudi Arabia must have written approval from a male guardian, which could be a father, husband, brother or son, to leave the country, work or even undergo certain medical operations.
Source: presstv.ir
