Saudi Arabia Should Lift The Death Sentence on The Young Man Muslim Turkish Barber
The Saudi Arabia should lift the death Sentence on the Muslim Turkish barber Sabri Bogday, 30 years old, who was accused of cursing God or using his name in vain and has been in jail for 13 months . This is extremely harsh and the accusation of such act is unreliable.
In addition this will not help improve the relation of the Arab world and Turkey which is now torn politically between the extremist Kemalist secularists and the very moderate Islam oriented party which can not be called Islamic as such. Such sentence will play in the hand of the secularist by portraying Islam as rigid and not compatible to the norms of the present world practices in regard what is a reasonable punishment and what is extreme?
The Mekka appeals court on May 1 upheld Sabri Bogday’s death sentence issued on March 31, 2008 for "cursing the name of God." Bogday, a Turkish national who had worked in Jeddah for 11 years as a barber, allegedly insulted God during an argument with a Saudi client and an Egyptian neighbor. Bogday, who did not have a lawyer in court, denied cursing God, but the three judges of the lower court regarded the testimony by the Saudi and the Egyptian witnesses as sufficient proof that Bogday had committed the crime of apostasy, or defection from Islam.
Turkey's president and prime minister have stepped in to save the life of a Turkish man sentenced to die in Saudi Arabia.
The prisoner's capital offense: using God's name in vain during an argument with a neighbor, according to Turkish newspapers.
Turkish President Abdullah Gul has penned a letter to Saudi King Abdullah requesting a pardon for Sabri Bogday, a barber who moved to Jeddah from southeastern Turkey more than a decade ago. Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan has also reached out to Saudi officials on the barber's behalf.
Apparently, Bogday had an argument with an Egyptian neighbor in Jeddah. The neighbor told authorities that Bogday had "cursed the name of God."
Bogday was arrested, tried and sentenced to death, even though his accuser has apparently disappeared.
The father of a 3-month-old son has been locked up for 13 months. His family back in Turkey is worried sick that he'll be put to death for blasphemy. An appeal is underway.
http://www.turkishpress.com/news.asp?id=228978
http://www.turkishdailynews.com.tr/article.php?enewsid=101552
http://krishna109.newsvine.com/_news/2008/05/02/1465146-saudi-arabian-court-ratifies-beheading-of-turkish-barber-
http://www.unhcr.org/cgi-bin/texis/vtx/refworld/rwmain?docid=482d4226c
http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/babylonbeyond/2008/04/saudi-arabia-de.html
http://tvnz.co.nz/view/page/536641/1779832
http://www.topix.com/forum/world/saudi-arabia/TFUSAF306EGP4GS83
http://www.ireland.com/newspaper/world/2008/0531/1212156443712.html
In addition this will not help improve the relation of the Arab world and Turkey which is now torn politically between the extremist Kemalist secularists and the very moderate Islam oriented party which can not be called Islamic as such. Such sentence will play in the hand of the secularist by portraying Islam as rigid and not compatible to the norms of the present world practices in regard what is a reasonable punishment and what is extreme?
The Mekka appeals court on May 1 upheld Sabri Bogday’s death sentence issued on March 31, 2008 for "cursing the name of God." Bogday, a Turkish national who had worked in Jeddah for 11 years as a barber, allegedly insulted God during an argument with a Saudi client and an Egyptian neighbor. Bogday, who did not have a lawyer in court, denied cursing God, but the three judges of the lower court regarded the testimony by the Saudi and the Egyptian witnesses as sufficient proof that Bogday had committed the crime of apostasy, or defection from Islam.
Turkey's president and prime minister have stepped in to save the life of a Turkish man sentenced to die in Saudi Arabia.
The prisoner's capital offense: using God's name in vain during an argument with a neighbor, according to Turkish newspapers.
Turkish President Abdullah Gul has penned a letter to Saudi King Abdullah requesting a pardon for Sabri Bogday, a barber who moved to Jeddah from southeastern Turkey more than a decade ago. Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan has also reached out to Saudi officials on the barber's behalf.
Apparently, Bogday had an argument with an Egyptian neighbor in Jeddah. The neighbor told authorities that Bogday had "cursed the name of God."
Bogday was arrested, tried and sentenced to death, even though his accuser has apparently disappeared.
The father of a 3-month-old son has been locked up for 13 months. His family back in Turkey is worried sick that he'll be put to death for blasphemy. An appeal is underway.
http://www.turkishpress.com/news.asp?id=228978
http://www.turkishdailynews.com.tr/article.php?enewsid=101552
http://krishna109.newsvine.com/_news/2008/05/02/1465146-saudi-arabian-court-ratifies-beheading-of-turkish-barber-
http://www.unhcr.org/cgi-bin/texis/vtx/refworld/rwmain?docid=482d4226c
http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/babylonbeyond/2008/04/saudi-arabia-de.html
http://tvnz.co.nz/view/page/536641/1779832
http://www.topix.com/forum/world/saudi-arabia/TFUSAF306EGP4GS83
http://www.ireland.com/newspaper/world/2008/0531/1212156443712.html
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