Gang-Rape Victim Vows to Fight On

JEDDAH, 18 November 2007 — Upset with a sentence of 200 lashes and six months in prison, the 19-year-old Saudi gang-rape victim known as “Qatif Girl� is appealing the verdict even as the judge in the case said her sentence could be increased as a result, the woman’s husband told Arab News yesterday.

The woman is charged with being in the company of an unrelated man shortly before she and her companion were brutally gang-raped by seven men, all of whom have been found guilty and sentenced to between two and nine years in prison with lashes for the crime.

In the absence of her lawyer, whose license to practice law was recently revoked by the Qatif General Court, the young woman agreed to fight the verdict.

“She was very determined and strong facing the harsh ruling. Even I was surprised,� said the victim’s husband, whose name is being withheld to protect the woman’s identity.

The husband said the judge warned that if the defendant lost her appeal her sentence could be increased.

The rape victim had already lost a second hearing (which was not considered an appeal) by the Higher Court of Justice, after her lawyer requested they review the ruling of the Qatif General Court, which had sentenced the woman to 90 lashes.

On Wednesday the Higher Court of Justice not only upheld the guilty verdict but also increased the sentence to 200 lashes and six months in prison.

On Saturday the husband (the woman’s legal guardian) is scheduled to receive a copy of the verdict from the Qatif General Court, after which the defendant will have 30 days to file an appeal with the Court of Cassation.

“We have been told that the appeal hearing will take two to three weeks,� said the husband.

The second ruling by the Higher Court of Justice was made after the victim’s lawyer, Abdul Rahman Al-Lahem, managed to get the Higher Court to review the verdict of the Qatif General Court and reverse the verdict. Instead, the court issued the harsher punishment.

“Their argument was that it was the girl’s fault in the first place that (the rape) happened and none of that would have happened if she had not met up with the non-related male friend,� said Al-Lahem, who had his license revoked and was kicked out of the courtroom at the start of the hearing.

Sheikh Fouad Al-Majed, the head of the Qatif General Court that revoked Al-Lahem’s license, referred Arab News to a court administrator to get a response from the court.

“In developed countries the press does not interfere in court cases,� said the administrator. “We have no authority to talk to the press. The media department at the Ministry of Justice is the only one that can go on record.�

The administrator then said he would state his full name for the record on one condition.

“I will give you my full name if I want to propose to you,� he answered.

Arab News could not contact the Ministry of Justice in Riyadh as government offices are closed until Monday due to the OPEC Summit in Riyadh.

Human rights activist Fawziya Al-Oyoni, who was also kicked out of the courtroom with Al-Lahem, said that the victim, who was only 18 years old at the time of her sexual assault, was abducted at knifepoint in front of a shopping mall in Qatif along with a non-related male friend.

Al-Oyoni said that the victim had met the friend to receive some photos of her that he had from a relationship with her when she was 16. She contends that the man had initially threatened to distribute the pictures to shame her.

Then seven young men noticed the two in front of a mall and abducted them, took them to a deserted area and raped them both.

Arab News has learned that the young man is not appealing his sentence out of fear that his punishment, if the verdict were upheld, would be increased.

“The rape victim was denied her right of having her lawyer at the courtroom while announcing the verdict,� said Al-Oyoni. “She has been undergoing hard physical and psychological conditions and severe depression as a result of the horrifying crime.�

As for the reason why Al-Lahem’s license to practice law has been suspended, the court claims insubordination (he allegedly raised his voice to the judge) but the lawyer denies the allegations.

“Unfortunately in today’s practice judges seem to be above the law and almost impossible to question,� said Al-Lahem, who has vowed to fight his own legal battle to reclaim his right to practice law.

Ebtihal Mubarak, Arab News