Saudi Arabia Delays Execution of TV 'Sorcerer,' Lawyer Says

A Lebanese television psychic sentenced to death for "sorcery" in Saudi Arabia was granted a stay of execution on Friday, his lawyer told The BBC.

Until he was arrested in 2008 while on a pilgrimage in Saudi Arabia, Ali Sibat (pictured) was the host of a satellite television program in which he promised to give "advice and predictions about the future," to callers from around the Arab world to his studio in Beirut, as Britain's Channel 4 News explained in a report on his case on Thursday.

The television psychic was popular in Saudi Arabia and was reportedly recognized by members of the country's religious police officially known as the Committee for the Promotion of Virtue and the Prevention of Vice.

According to Amnesty International, Mr. Sibat was sentenced to death in Medina in November, "after secret court hearings where he had no legal representation or assistance." The human rights group also reported that "on March 10, a court in Medina upheld the death sentence. The judges said that he deserved to be sentenced to death because he had practiced 'sorcery' publicly for several years before millions of viewers." The court added that his execution would act as a deterrent to what it called the increasing number of "foreign magicians" coming to Saudi Arabia.

May al-Khansa, a lawyer working for Mr. Sibat in Lebanon, raised an alarm about Mr. Sibat's possible execution this week when she said on Wednesday that she had been told he would be beheaded "within 48 hours." On Friday, though, Ms. Khansa told The Associated Press that Lebanon's justice minister had informed her that Mr. Sibat "would not be executed in Saudi Arabia today, the day executions are typically carried out in the kingdom after noon prayers."

Since Saudi authorities do not always give notice of executions, and have not responded to requests for comment from foreign media organizations, the apparent delay in Mr. Sibat's execution has yet to be confirmed.

Ms. Khansa told a BBC radio program that she had been told that he was still alive on Friday, "But after that I dont have an answer as to if he will be alive or not. Time is passing and if they don't kill him this Friday maybe next Friday." In a television interview with the BBC, she appealed to Saudi Arabia's king to recognize that "Ali Sibat is not a criminal."

In Beirut, Meris Lutz of The Los Angeles Times wrote that the case might be more about Saudi politics than law.

One Lebanese legal expert who is familiar with Saudi law and politics described the case against Sibat as a "muscle show" by conservatives who may be seeking to embarrass reformist leaders such as King Abdullah.

"I don't know on what grounds they arrested him, since he didn't commit [the crime] in Saudi, he's not a Saudi citizen, and it wasn't directed against Saudi, and usually one of these criteria must be fulfilled," the expert said, asking that her name not be published because she travels to Saudi Arabia.

Ms. Lutz added that the legal expert suggested that Mr. Sibat might have been given the harshest possible sentence because he is a Shiite Muslim.

Source: New York Times, April 3, 2010

Comments

China executes 11 members of gang who ran billion-dollar criminal empire in Myanmar

China has executed 11 members of the notorious Ming family criminal gang, who ran mafia-like scam centers in Myanmar and killed workers who tried to escape, Chinese state media reported on Thursday. The Ming family was one of the so-called 4 families of northern Myanmar — crime syndicates accused of running hundreds of compounds dealing in internet fraud, prostitution and drug production, and whose members held prominent positions in the local government and militia aligned with Myanmar’s ruling junta.

China executes another four members of powerful Myanmar-based crime family

China has executed another four members of a powerful Myanmar-based crime family that oversaw 41 pig butchering scam* compounds across Southeast Asia. The executed individuals were members of the Bai family, a particularly powerful gang that ruled the Laukkai district and helped transform it into a hub for casinos, trafficking, scam compounds, and prostitution. China’s Supreme People’s Court approved the executions after 21 members were charged with homicide, kidnapping, extortion, operating a fraudulent casino, organizing illegal border crossings, and forced prostitution. The court said the Bai family made over $4 billion across its enterprise and killed six Chinese citizens.

Florida | Man convicted of leaving girl to be eaten by gators avoids death penalty

After about 4 hours of deliberations, jurors on Friday recommended Harrel Braddy should be sentenced to life in prison for the 1998 killing of 5-year-old Quantisha Maycock. A South Florida man who dropped off a 5-year-old child in the Everglades to be eaten alive by gators nearly 3 decades ago was given a second chance at life as jurors recommended he should spend the rest of his life behind bars instead of being sent to death row. After about four hours of deliberations, jurors on Friday recommended Harrel Braddy should be sentenced to life in prison for the 1998 killing of 5-year-old Quantisha Maycock.

Federal Judge Rules Out Death Penalty for Luigi Mangione in UnitedHealth CEO Killing

NEW YORK — A federal judge has dismissed two charges against Luigi Mangione, the man accused of assassinating UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson, effectively removing the possibility of the death penalty in the high-profile case. U.S. District Judge Margaret Garnett ruled Friday that the murder charge through use of a firearm — the only count that could have carried a capital sentence — was legally incompatible with the remaining interstate stalking charges against Mangione.

Florida's second execution of 2026 scheduled for February

Florida’s second execution of 2026, a man convicted of killing a grocery story owner, will take place in February. Gov. Ron DeSantis signed the death warrant Jan. 23 for Melvin Trotter, 65, to die by lethal injection Feb. 24. Florida's first execution will take place just a few weeks earlier when Ronald Palmer Heath is set to die Feb. 10. Trotter was convicted of first-degree murder and sentenced to death in 1987 for strangling and stabbing Virgie Langford a year earlier in Palmetto.

California | Convicted killer Scott Peterson keeps swinging in court — but expert says he’s not going anywhere but his cell

More than two decades after Laci Peterson vanished from her Modesto, California, home, the murder case that captivated the nation continues to draw legal challenges, public debate and renewed attention. As the year comes to a close, Scott Peterson, convicted in 2004 of murdering his pregnant wife and their unborn son Conner, remains behind bars, serving life without the possibility of parole. His wife disappeared on Christmas Eve in 2002, and a few months later, the remains of Laci and Conner were found in the San Francisco Bay.

Georgia parole board suspends scheduled execution of Cobb County death row prisoner

The execution of a Georgia man scheduled for Wednesday has been suspended as the State Board of Pardons and Paroles considers a clemency application. Stacey Humphreys, 52, would have been the state's first execution in 2025. As of December 16, 2025, Georgia has carried out zero executions in 2025. The state last executed an inmate in January 2020, followed by a pause due to COVID-19. Executions resumed in 2024, but none have occurred this year until now. Humphreys had been sentenced to death for the 2003 killings of 33-year-old Cyndi Williams and 21-year-old Lori Brown, who were fatally shot at the real estate office where they worked.

Death toll in Iran protests could exceed 30,000

In an exclusive report, the American magazine TIME cited two senior officials from the Iranian Ministry of Health, who stated that the scale of the crackdown against protesters on January 18 and 19 was so widespread that 18-wheeler trailers replaced ambulances. In its report, based on testimony from these two high-ranking officials, TIME revealed statistics that differ vastly from the official narrative of the Islamic Republic.

The US reporter who has witnessed 14 executions: ‘People need to know what it looks like’

South Carolina-based journalist Jeffrey Collins observed back-to-back executions in 2025 after the state revived the death penalty following a 13-year pause Jeffrey Collins has watched 14 men draw their final breaths. Over 25 years at the Associated Press, the South Carolina-based journalist has repeatedly served as an observer inside the state’s execution chamber, watching from feet away as prison officials kill men who were sentenced to capital punishment. South Carolina has recently kept him unusually busy, with seven back-to-back executions in 14 months.

Oklahoma board recommends clemency for inmate set to be executed next week

A voting board in Oklahoma decided Wednesday to recommend clemency for Tremane Wood, a death row inmate who is scheduled to receive a lethal injection next week at the state penitentiary in McAlester. Wood, 46, faces execution for his conviction in the 2001 murder of Ronnie Wipf, a migrant farmworker, at an Oklahoma City hotel on New Year's Eve, court records show. The recommendation was decided in a 3-2 vote by the Oklahoma Pardon and Parole Board, consisting of five members appointed by either the governor or the state's top judicial official, according to CBS News affiliate KWTV. Oklahoma Gov. Kevin Sitt will consider the recommendation as he weighs whether to grant or deny Wood's clemency request, which would mean sparing him from execution and reducing his sentence to life in prison without the possibility of parole.

Death Penalty News

Search This Blog