Saudi Arabia executes Burmese woman; secret filming reveals medieval, barbaric punishment

Manama: A Burmese woman was executed on Monday in Makkah, in western Saudi Arabia, after she was found guilty of torturing her seven-year-old stepdaughter to death.

The interior ministry said that the murderer, Laila Bint Abdul Muttalib Basim, killed the daughter of her husband, Kalthoum Bin Abdul Rahman Bin Ghulam Qadir, by beating her severely and inserting the stick of a broom into her genitals “without any mercy or compassion”, causing her death.

The killer was apprehended and, following investigations, was charged with the murder of her stepdaughter.

She was sentenced to death on the basis of the atrocity of her crime and the Court of Appeals upheld the verdict, the ministry said in a statement carried by the Saudi Press Agency (SPA) on Monday.

The death sentence was ratified by a royal order and the killer was executed on Monday.

Source: Gulf News, January 12, 2015

Video of the execution: In the chilling recording, Basim, who was found guilty in a Saudi Sharia court of sexually abusing and murdering her 7-year-old step-daughter, is heard protesting her innocence until the very end. "I did not kill. I did not kill," she screams repeatedly.

Filming of executions is normally strictly prohibited by Saudi authorities raising speculation that a security official may have covertly videoed the killing.

In a statement released on their official website, the Saudi Ministry of Interior said that the brutally delivered death penalty was warranted due to the "enormity of the crime," and was carried out to "restore security" and "realize justice."

"[The punishment] implements the rulings of God against all those who attack innocents and spill their blood. The government warns all those who are seduced into committing a similar crimes that the rightful punishment is their fate," the statement said. (Source: vice.com, January 13, 2015)

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January 17 UPDATE: Man arrested for filming execution in Saudi

Manama: Police in the western Saudi city of Makkah have arrested a policeman for filming secretly the public execution of a Burmese woman.

The policeman was among the staff assigned with the preparations for the execution in Makkah, Okaz news site reported on Saturday.

The suspect, who was not named, will face charges in a military court as well as in a Shariah court for his act, the daily added.

He will be referred to the courts following the completion of the investigation by the public prosecution.

On Wednesday, a human rights group called for taking action against whoever filmed the execution of the woman and posted on social networks, arguing that it was a breach of privacy rights.

The Makkah-based National Society for Human Rights (NSHR) [sic] said that whoever filmed the execution should be identified and punished.

NSHR Member Mohammad Al Sahli said that the authorities should have taken all precautionary measures, including the use of undercover agents, to prevent the filming of the execution.

The authorities should now track the video clip all the way to its source, identify those who filmed it and punish them, he said, local daily Makkah reported on Thursday.

Al Sahli said that the law allows the woman’s family to take legal action against anyone who caused them distress or harm through the filming or the dissemination of the execution video clip.

“Those who disseminated the clip are not less guilty than those who filmed the execution [How about those who ordered, organized and carried out this nightmarish punishment? - DPN],” he said.

However, online users rejected Al Salhi’s call, insisting that the purpose of the public execution was to deter potential criminals and that the video was within the same spirit.

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Source: Gulf News, January 17, 2015

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