Saudi court sentences poet to death for renouncing Islam

[Jesus Malverde]

Source: Guardian UK

A Palestinian poet and leading member of Saudi Arabia’s nascent contemporary art scene has been sentenced to death for renouncing Islam.

A Saudi court on Tuesday ordered the execution of Ashraf Fayadh, who has curated art shows in Jeddah and at the Venice Biennale. The poet, who said he did not have legal representation, was given 30 days to appeal against the ruling.

Fayadh, 35, a key member of the British-Saudi art organisation Edge of Arabia, was originally sentenced to four years in prison and 800 lashes by the general court in Abha, a city in the south-west of the ultraconservative kingdom, in May 2014.

But after his appeal was dismissed he was retried last month and a new panel of judges ruled that his repentance did not prevent his execution.


Read more: http://www.theguardian.com/world/2015/nov/20/saudi-court-sentences-poet-to-death-for-renouncing-islam

[ericson00]

1. it's all imperial colonialism's fault, didn't you know???

[Fred Sanders]

5. Imperialism is what Saudi DOES! They have oil and so were not targets of American regime change.

[Warren Stupidity]

9. 10,000 feet over your head.

[7962]

12. HA!

[pangaia]

17. He thinks imperialism is about the Imperial Oil Company.

well, come to think of it....

[leftynyc]

23. Or just a refusal

to acknowledge what's right in front of their face. This has been a most enlightening week on DU.

[Fred Sanders]

35. Which would 10000 above yours?!

[snooper2]

34. please continue I would like to hear more from you on this subject

LOL

[DetlefK]

7. That bloody Sunni-Shia conflict? The West's fault.

Just wait for it:
1. Climate-change will make eastern Saudi-Arabia so hot, there will be summer-days when stepping outside is literally lethal.
2. And a month ago, Saudi-Arabia announced that it stops growing wheat in the desert effective immediately, because the aquifiers are running out of water.
3. New technologies will decrease the market for gas and climate-change will make burning oil a bad political decision. The price of oil will drop in the upcoming decades. All this precious oil, but nobody needs it.

What does that lead to? The Syria-scenario:
A repressive, brutal regime and a population that demands changes because it's afraid of famine and droughts.
Throw some islamic extremism into the mix, because Saudi-Arabia is an exporter for ideologies like Al-Qaeda and ISIS.

[pscot]

43. Add to that a decrepit monarchy

and 40% of the population under age 15 and with no hope for the future. The country's a ticking bomb.

[Erich Bloodaxe BSN]

2. Are we EVER going to dump the House of Saud as allies?

Those guys are assholes of the first rank, which I know makes them perfect allies for much of Congress, but at least SOME Dems ought to be pushing to break ties with them.

[Jesus Malverde]

3. They are our best customers for military hardware and funders of international terrorism.

Its a win win for some.

[longship]

4. Our progressive ally!

[get the red out]

6. Everything the Saudi leadership does

Makes my heart hurt.

[TheBlackAdder]

8. Quick! Let's sell them over a billion dollars in weaponry. Oh, the U.S. just did that! nt

[Warren Stupidity]

10. It's OK they are just murdering shiites in yemen with it.

So like apparently that is a good thing.

[The Wizard]

11. Oil changes everything

Why are there no sanctions imposed on Saudi Arabia? Because two of the world's most powerful families have an interest in Saudi crude, The House of Saud and The House of Bush.

[7962]

13. ...The House of Clinton

They've made some good money off the Saudis as well

[Jesus Malverde]

14. More than oil the petro dollar

If the Saudis ever want to screw with us they will start taking other world currencies for oil. Going off the petrodollar is a death sentence for many.

[Ikonoklast]

36. Would not make too much of difference to us, but might crash every Saudi holding worldwide.

The "they can destroy the dollar by using (whatever) currency" is a myth.

Doing so would also destroy their accumulated wealth.

[Jesus Malverde]

41. The accumulated wealth yes

But their money is really stashed underground they have trillions of euro, or whatever currency ready to pump.

[leftynyc]

24. I was wondering where the UN is

Some countries get sanctioned for looking at the other side with a stern face. But this? Never heard the UN say boo about this. They're useless and prove it every single day.

[Jesus Malverde]

40. Lol UN

The Saudis are on the UN Human rights council AND just donated 150 million to UN anti terrorism center. The UN is a joke.

[leftynyc]

46. Preach it

I also have known this for a very long time.

[Angel Martin]

48. I won't have that !

how an you say the UNHRC is useless ?

they have just investigated if Austria is doing enough to prevent slavery, cited Greece for inequality between the sexes, and San Marino for not prohibiting corporal punishment.


http://www.ohchr.org/EN/NewsEvents/Pages/DisplayNews.aspx?NewsID=16715&LangID=E

[leftynyc]

50. But nothing about a poet

Who is getting the death penalty for leaving Islam. This is my shocked face.

[Deuce]

15. So depressing...

[pangaia]

16. Just wondereful.

Let's sell them more F-15s..

[snagglepuss]

18. The terrorist organization known as the House of Saud are let off the hook.

[FlatBaroque]

19. U.S. Is Finalizing a $1 Billion Arms Deal With Saudi Arabia

U.S. Is Finalizing a $1 Billion Arms Deal With Saudi Arabia

Saudi Arabia supports ISIS

DO THE MATH

[smirkymonkey]

37. Disgusting!

[SmittynMo]

20. Yeah it's time to take them off of our ally list.

9/11 were Saudi's right? And we did nothing to Saudi Arabia to retaliate.

Now they are going to kill someone because he denounces their religion? Yet their region is in total chaos with ISIS, and they do nothing to help stop it.

It's far past time to drop them as an ally. Unless, of course, there is a lot more to this story that we do not know?

[Botany]

26. And our good friends from the House of Saud support ISIS with millions of dollars

n/t

[Bernardo de La Paz]

21. It's a weak branch of their religion that needs death for apostacy to retain 'believers'. nt

[randome]

27. But it gives fuel to the notion that Islam is a terrifying religion.

This is a clash of worlds, IMO. East and West. We don't need to tip into 'kill 'em all!' territory but it's going to take a long time before the two worlds settle into something approaching equilibrium.
[hr][font color="blue"][center]Birds are territorial creatures.
The lyrics to the songbird's melodious trill go something like this:
"Stay out of my territory or I'll PECK YOUR GODDAMNED EYES OUT!"[/center][/font][hr]

[FrodosPet]

45. Muslim opinions on death penalty for converting to another faith

From 2013, but I doubt it has changed a lot.

[Bernardo de La Paz]

22. Also note the double jeopardy that is forbidden by Constitutions such as the US'. nt

[cer7711]

25. Fuck the House of Saud!

Last edited Fri Nov 20, 2015, 05:37 PM - Edit history (2)

Fuck the House of Saud; the entire Bush crime family (as Mike Malloy so rightly terms them); and all the sick, cynical, savage crypto-fascists who support and/or excuse the brutal actions of both these predatory plutocratic families.

[Democat]

28. Best friends of the Bush family

And a US ally.

[mtasselin]

29. Really

Why do we as a nation that believes in freedom of expression put up with this shit, really you are going to chop his head for renouncing a religion. Sharia law which the right wing in this once great country is pushing for.

[polly7]

30. Some of our 'allies' are the most sickening people on earth. nt.

[AlbertCat]

31. Our good buddies...the Saudis

I wonder what nick name Dubya would have given him....

[uawchild]

33. nick name you ask?

The first step in getting rid of an oppressive regime is to start using humor to mock their fearless leader. So, in that tradition...



King "Slick Sal" Salman of Saudi Arabia

[Jesus Malverde]

49. Is that photoshopped...

If not LOL what what a sick mofo.

[blackspade]

32. Our bestest ally in the region....

The fatherland of ISIS.
And the home of the 9/11 bombers and its mastermind.
Corrupt, morally bankrupt assholes.

[flamingdem]

38. How about putting some pressure to bear

along with that massive arms deal.

I don't think it's tenable to maintain relations with the Saudis, something has to give.

[FLPanhandle]

39. Can you imagine being a rational scientific person in Saudi Arabia?

You would have to go through the motions of being a believer, lie to your own family, and hide your intelligence just to survive.

[Jesus Malverde]

42. A land where art and cinemas are banned.

Sick place. Meanwhile their leadership spends their time in Europe and the US partying like it's the end of the world.

[WhoWoodaKnew]

44. It's impossible for any movement to start there because they just kill you.

Evil bastards.

[ileus]

47. I suppose this is moderate islam...

It's stories like these should ring a bell in your conscience that while we like to claim islam is a sweet peaceful religion that even in "moderate" states that's just a talking point.

[plus5mace]

51. The Saudis are the worst Muslims on the planet.

And our allies. The ultra hateful branch of Islam known as Wahhabism or Salafism originates in this country and their government spends billions spreading it across the globe. Their elite openly back and fund ISIS and the government at best turns a blind eye to it.

Any talk of a war on terrorism is absolute horseshit if it doesn't start with addressing the Saudi situation. I will never support any middle east war so long as the financiers aren't brought to justice.

[Throd]

52. Nailed it. Why does the world give them a pass?

I know our government won't do anything to upset them, but why can't there be a popular wave of disgust and boycotts similar to those against the apartheid regime of South Africa in the late 80's?

[Dems to Win]

53. Same folks who gave $25 million to the Clinton Foundation

One more reason I won't be voting for Hillary. It's stupid to pretend we are fighting ISIS when the Clintons and Bushes are buddy-buddy with the people who are FUNDING ISIS.

Saudi Arabia, an ISIS That Has Made It http://www.nytimes.com/2015/11/21/opinion/saudi-arabia-an-isis-that-has-made-it.html?smid=tw-share&_r=0

The Saudi-funded Wahhabi mosques in the US, and worldwide, SHOULD BE shut down. They are preaching the same brutal, hateful Islam as ISIS.

[yurbud]

54. and we're fighting ISIS because THEY'RE violent religious extremists?

How can people hear about this stuff and still believe the War on Terror is about evil people hurting other people?

And we've probably got a good number of other allies whose leaders are nearly as repugnant.

[jmowreader]

55. Let me guess: His last poem tweaked the noses of the Saudi royals

"We have to get rid of Ashraf Fayadh, but we can't say it's because we don't like his writing. What else have we got?"

'We haven't had a good old-fashioned apostasy beheading in quite some time.'