CAIRO: A Saudi Arabia court has sentenced an African man to 15 years in prison and over 1,500 lashes for allegedly embezzling funds by using sorcery. Members of the Commission for the Promotion of Virtue and Prevention of Vice arrested the unidentified man, in his 50s, following complaints by many of his victims in various cities in the Gulf Kingdom. “They seized him red handed after setting a trap for him in Riyadh … they found talismans, herbs, hair and other items used in his fraudulent activities,” the Ajel Arabic language daily reported. In December of last year, a Saudi woman was executed for allegedly practicing sorcery in the country. Amina bint Abdulhalim Nassar was executed in the ultra-conservative gulf kingdom after being sentenced to death in the northern Jawf province, the news agency reported. The death continues to spark outrage among activists in the country as well as international human rights groups, who have repeatedly called for a moratorium on the death penalty in Saudi. It came after 9 Bangladeshis were recently beheaded in the country. “It is wrong and disgusting to kill anyone in this way,” said one rights activist in the country. He told Bikyamasr.com via telephone that “doing this just gets people thinking we live in the Dark Ages.” On October 7, two Saudi men convicted of murder were executed by the sword in the northern city of Tabuk, the Saudi interior ministry said. One was found guilty of stabbing to death two brothers, the other of killing an Afghan man with a machine gun. International rights groups have condemned the Saudi government its use of the death penalty. Saudi Arabia is in the top of global nations using capital punishment, along with China, Iran and the United States. Activists in the country are demanding an end to what they call “archaic” and “inhumane” means of killing convicted murderers. BM ShortURL: http://goo.gl/nZPHJ Tags: Islam, Jail, Lashes, Sorcery Section: Human Rights, Latest News, Religion, Saudi Arabia
