case that has shocked the world...

I guess different countries have different interpretations of the law..

And i guess something is wrong with the justice system in Saudi Arabia...

Numerous news reports from the kingdom, have shocked the world - because victims of sexual assaults were sentenced to jail and lashes, instead.

"Being in the company of an unrelated male or males" were the basis to justify the punishments handed down by judges to the victims.

Among the most infamous case involved a controversial Saudi court ruling in Nov 2007:

(source CNN, Arab News)

In a shocking verdict, a Saudi Court has ordered a gang rape victim to undergo 200 lashes and six months in prison for "being in the car of an unrelated male" when the crime was committed.

The 19-year-old victim was initially ordered to undergo 90 lashes by judges from the Qatif General Court, but the case was referred back to an Appeals Court after her lawyer had urged a harsher punishment for assaulters, the Arab News reported.

In its verdict, the court, which punished the victim for "being in the car of an unrelated male at the time of the rape", also suspended her lawyer.

The seven rapists, whose previous sentences ranged from 10 months to five years in prison, also had their prison terms increased to between two and nine years. The verdict came in as a shock to everybody.

A source at the Qatif General Court said the judges had informed the rape victim that the reason behind doubling her punishment was "her attempt to aggravate and influence the judiciary through the media", the report added.

Saudi Arabia enforces a strict Islamic doctrine known as Wahhabism and forbids unrelated men and women from associating with each other, bans women from driving and forces them to cover head-to-toe in public.

However, The Saudi government recently has taken some steps toward bettering the situation of women in the kingdom, including the establishment earlier this year of special courts to handle domestic abuse cases, adoption of a new labor law that addresses working women's rights, and creation of a human rights commission.

On a more positive notes, rapists in Saudi Arabia are sentenced to death... as reported here...

Riyadh – Two men have been executed in Riyadh for kidnapping and rape in Riyadh on Friday, the Saudi Ministry of Interior said in a statement.

Abdurrahman Bin Saeed Bin Ramadan Al-Zahrani and Abdurrahman Bin Qasim Bin Hussain Al-Fifi, both saudi nationals, were beheaded.

Zahrani had been convicted of kidnapping a 20-year-old girl and raping her.

Fifi was convicted of being an accomplice to the double crime.Taking advantage of being military men, the two had pulled over an expatriate motorist who was with his daughter.

The first took the girl away and raped her, while the second held the expatriate.

The two criminals made advantage of their positions as soldiers with the Ministry of Defense and Aviation, using their military status to stop the expatriate’s car in a desert area and kidnapping and raping the girl.

The two were arrested and sentenced to death.

They were executed in Riyadh after having been convicted by the court for their crimes, said the statement.

The Cassation Court and the Supreme Judicial Council, as well as Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Abdullah Bin Abdul Aziz, approved the court’s verdicts.

The statement confirmed the determination of the Saudi government on ensuring law and order and severely punishing the criminals.