Father keeps son in prison for 12 years longer than sentence
Published Apr 26 2012, 19:07 BST | By Jamie Wotton
© Rex Features
Saudi Arabian Eid al-Sinani was sentenced to prison in 1997 and has remained there since because the ruling judge shifted absolute power to his father.
Sinanni was convicted of attacking his stepmother, according to the National Society for Human Rights.
Speaking to Reuters, Musab al-Zahrani stated: "We are optimistic that he will be released because he has been jailed for [almost] 16 years and there is no real charge.
"The son is left under [his father's] mercy."
In the Islamic legal justice system, law is not written and codified so rulings are subject to judges' opinion of Sharia law.
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I agree. Religion and the law should remain separate entities, otherwise we're in dangerous territory. Something based on very old stories and their subsequent translations are not fit to be used as law - which updates with the times.
April 28th 2012 at 11:59pm
Firstly, some people just aren't religious. He doesn't need knowledge of Islam, Christianity or anay other religion. Also, bad example as Blackburn is easier to believe in, what with the physical evidence of it and all. And using the word 'hate' lost you all credibility for your rebuttal. You seemingly have no knowledge of how to conduct in a debate.
Secondly, the legal system is of course flawed, but I'd rather them just tighten the whole thing up. Stricter punishments framed by strict, tight laws without loopholes. God only knows nothing's fair about it; I had experiences with solicitors who had to defend people who were guilty through and through and the very bottom dregs of society and it's just amoral. However putting the power into one person's hands with a conflict of interest isn't going to help. Yes, they may have done something terrible and they're rubbish for doing it. But at the same time, no human should ever hold such power over another; not to harm them nor limit their potential by imprisoning them. It's not the legal system or the interpretation of religious rules that's at fault here. Quite simply, it's that humanity is disgusting.
April 28th 2012 at 11:56pm
Excessive maybe -
(Reuters) - A Saudi Arabian man who was jailed for three years in 1997 has spent a further 12 years behind bars waiting for his father to pardon him, a local human rights group has said.
Eid al-Sinani, 43, was originally sentenced to three years in prison and 200 lashes for beating up his step mother, Musab al-Zahrani, a researcher at the National Society for Human Rights (NSHR), told Reuters.
However, when the sentence had been served the father asked a judge to keep his son in prison "until he is proven to be righteous by his father". The judge agreed and 12 years later Sinani is still in jail, Zahrani said.
Under the kingdom's Islamic legal system, law is not systematically codified and judicial rulings are subject to individual judges' interpretation of sharia.
Some judges view children's "disobedience" towards their parents as an offence worthy of lashing and even jail sentences.
A spokesman for Saudi Arabia's Justice Ministry, which oversees courts in the conservative Islamic kingdom, did not immediately respond to requests for comment on the case.
Rulings in Saudi Arabia are not based on precedent and, even with the same charge, they can differ from one judge to another.
"We are optimistic that he will be released because he has been jailed for (almost) 16 years and there is no real charge… This is legally problematic because they gave absolute power to the father and the son is left under his mercy," Zahrani said.
NSHR is affiliated with the Saudi government.
April 27th 2012 at 10:42pm
Everyone complaining about the system, but, nobody asking 'HOW', he attacked his stepmother. Did he give her a little Slap, or maybe Stabbed her? How about researching the crime? Pah!
April 27th 2012 at 10:39pm
its wrong on so many levels ;0(
April 27th 2012 at 9:25pm