Saudi Arabia beheaded a man for murder Monday, the kingdom's second execution this year, the Interior Ministry said.
Musfir bin Saad bin Abdullah al Qahtani was found guilty of shooting and killing two Saudi men after a dispute, the ministry said in a statement. He was executed in the capital, Riyadh.
Saudi beheadings are carried out with a sword in public to serve as a deterrent. The kingdom beheaded 83 people in 2005 and 35 people in 2004.
Saudi Arabia follows a strict interpretation of Islam under which people convicted of murder, drug trafficking, rape and armed robbery can be executed.
Okay, I’m one of those people who oppose capital punishment, for a raft of reasons, but two key concerns are:
It is only a deterrent to the person legally killed. If it were a real deterrent then capital punishment would have become redundant long ago.
The second point is that this legal form of murder dehumanizes the societies which practice it. If the late Abu Musab al-Zarqawi and his apparent clones see beheading as an acceptable practice, might it not be because it is a state sanctioned practice?
I know, they would simply use another form of execution, but it is pointless being squeamish about them using an already sanctioned method.
The new Zarqawi
While we are on Zarqawi, reports aren’t confirmed yet, but a replacement has been announced; a militant named Abu Hamza al-Muhajer.
It’s not clear yet whether this new guy is Pentagon sanctioned. We do know that the name al-Muhajer, Arabic for 'immigrant,' suggested he was not Iraqi.
A statement from Al-Qaida in Iraq's council said al-Muhajer was 'a beloved brother with jihadi (holy war) experience and a strong footing in knowledge.
The self serving propaganda on all sides makes it difficult to know what is really going on. No doubt we will receive official reports soon on how this character has been under observation since the year dot, and been a past recipient of US favours.
My score card is getting too convoluted to follow with ease anymore.
2 comments:
Thanks kvatch. I though I might have been in for a head kicking at least, and potentially beheading.
A bit of amphibian reassurance goes down well.
Ah, Australia. Fortunately the present Fed government don't have the guts or the jurisdiction to reintroduce the death penalty.
The country is still living off the last one in 1967, which was otherwise a good year.
Mind you, it's not the chocolate factory for the serious crims. The high security prison system and experiments with privatise gaols (jails) using US contractors make some hanker for the rope or similar.
Ronald Ryan and Ned Kelly, both swung and both became martyrs to the downtrodden, downunder.
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