Recently, a Sri Lankan woman was arrested by Saudi authorities for witchcraft. A man accused this woman of casting a spell on a 13 year old girl during a family shopping trip. He complained to the police that the girl ‘started acting in an abnormal way’ after a close contact with the woman in a shopping mall in the port city of Jeddah. According to news reports, the accused woman is currently in police custody in Saudi Arabia. If pressure is not brought on Saudi authorities to spare the life of this ‘innocent’ woman, she may be executed by beheading any moment from now.
In Saudi Arabia, witchcraft is a crime punishable by death. Last year, Saudi authorities beheaded two people, a Sudanese man and a Saudi woman, for practicing witchcraft. It is not clear how the judicial system in the country defines the crime of witchcraft or justifies it as a harmful practice punishable by death. It is difficult to understand how Saudi courts try and convict people for witchcraft offense.
Definitely such procedures fall short of international standards. I am so eager to know on what ground the government of Saudi Arabia continues to allow the execution of persons who allegedly committed the ‘crime’. I understand that Saudi Arabia has no written criminal code, so there is nothing like the ‘letter of the law’ in terms of witchcraft crime. Rulings are based on the judges’ interpretation of sharia law. Judgments are issued based on the faith, beliefs and mentality of judges.
Witchcraft is an imaginary crime that should not be associated with the penal code of any country in this 21st century. There is no evidence at all that some people have supernatural powers and can harm others by magical means. Witchcraft is a belief which people, out of fear and ignorance, associate with harm, evil and misfortune, and the criminal offense of witchcraft is a painful legacy of this primitive and lingering fear and superstition.
Source: Institute for Ethics and Emerging Technologies, Leo Igwe, May 11, 2012
