MAKKAH, 5 June 2007 — An appeals court in Makkah has upheld the verdict of a court in Jizan that sentenced a police officer in this southern Saudi city to two years in prison and 400 lashes for having sexual relations with a college student.
The officer was accused of using a furnished apartment to have an illicit affair with a woman with whom he was not married. During the trial it was revealed that the man used to pick up the student at a local college as if he were her husband.
The two were arrested in 2005 after being followed by undercover members of the Commission for the Promotion of Virtue and Prevention of Vice. Commission members said the man claimed that magical talismans that were found in his apartment were used to bewitch the girl. For her part, the woman allegedly claimed that she went with the officer under the impression he wanted to marry her even though he already had a wife.
The judge said he issued the verdict based in part on the fact the accused was an officer of the law and therefore shouldn’t be breaking the law. The defense lawyer denied that his client was having sexual relations with the women and that the commission officers did not witness any sexual contact between the two.
The prosecution brought witnesses that said they observed the man and woman entering the apartment together. Under Shariah law, adultery can be punishable by death but that penalty requires four witnesses who see the sexual act.
