Saudi Arabia Takes Heat Over Beheading of 'Witch'

Lebanese man dodges beheading—for now

(NEWSER) - A TV talk-show host condemned to die by beheading for "sorcery" by a Saudi court has won a reprieve. Officials, however, gave no indication that his sentence would be commuted, or that he would be released. Ali Hussain Sibat offered predictions and advice on a call-in program in Beirut until he was arrested by Saudi religious police in 2008 while on a pilgrimage. Lebanese officials have called his controversial sentence "disproportionate" and demanded his release, CNN notes. More»

TV talk-show host boasted of predicting future

(NEWSER) - A Lebanese TV host who boasted he could predict the future is to be beheaded tomorrow in Saudi Arabia for "sorcery." Dad of two Ali Hussain Sibat hosted a popular call-in TV program in Beirut in which he doled out advice and predicted the future. He was busted by Saudi Arabia's religious police in 2008 while he was visiting the country, CNN reports. Sibat's attorney and Amnesty International are appealing to Saudi officials in a desperate bid to block the execution. More»

Executions surge in Middle East

(NEWSER) - Fewer countries than ever are executing people, but those countries are doing so with gusto, according to a new report from Amnesty International. Just 20 nations still use the death penalty. The US executed 43 people last year, making it 5th globally, and the only Western democracy on the list, the AP reports. “If you look at the company we're in globally, it's not the company we want to be in: China, Saudi Arabia, Iran, Iraq,” said the executive director of Amnesty International USA. More»

Indonesia sours on Wahhabism after abused maid executed

(NEWSER) - Saudi Arabia and the strict Wahhabi form of Islam it has exported have fallen rapidly out of favor in the world's most populous Muslim nation after the kingdom beheaded an Indonesian maid earlier this summer for killing her allegedly abusive employer, the Washington Post finds. The execution sparked a major anti-Saudi backlash: Some 1.2 million Indonesians, mostly maids, work in Saudi Arabia, but the Indonesian government has now declared a moratorium on labor exports to the kingdom. At least 20 Indonesians, nearly all women, are on death row in Saudi Arabia. More»

(NEWSER) - Saudi Arabian authorities decapitated and publicly displayed a convicted killer last night, drawing fire from Amnesty International, CNN reports. A state press agency said Ahmed Al-Shamlani Al-Anzi was sentenced for murdering an 11-year-old boy and his father. The Saudis likely sewed Al-Anzi's head back on before his display, or "crucifixion," which is intended to deter future crimes, an Amnesty researcher said. More»