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Saudi court sentences man to 10 years & 2,000 lashes for atheist tweets

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S

Sapphire Dreams

Member
A Saudi Arabian court has sentenced a man to 10 years imprisonment and 2,000 lashes for hundreds of atheist posts on Twitter, media reported.

The Saudi religious police, which is also responsible for monitoring social networks, found more than 600 “atheist” tweets on the page of an unnamed user, AP reports.
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The user was said to deny the existence of God, ridicule verses from the Koran, and accused all prophets of lying and fueling hostilities through their teachings, according to Al-Watan online daily.

The 28-year-old man, whose name has not been disclosed, is said to have admitted his atheist views and refused to repent, saying the tweets reflect his beliefs and that he has the right to express them.

Along with imprisonment and corporal punishment, the man was also slapped with a fine of 20,000 riyals (about $5,300), Reuters reports.
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Source

As an Arab atheist myself, this does concern me a lot. Thankfully, a lot of Arab atheists and humanists have taken to twitter in the hashtag #SaveTheSaudiAtheist, but I doubt it'll change anything.

Edit : it seems like the source was banned, here are other sources courtesy of cameron

http://www.pbs.org/newshour/rundown...n-to-10-years-2000-lashes-for-atheist-tweets/

http://bigstory.ap.org/article/aab8...gets-10-years-2000-lashes-over-atheist-tweets
 
Y

Yagharek

Member
Human rights violation big time there. Every person has the right according to the UN to freedom of belief.

Let's hops it gets a large public attention and the sentence is dismissed.

I'm not sure whether this law reads like something out of 1984 or 1084. Probably both.
 
M

Madao

Member
i'm surprised the dinosaurs know what twitter is.

they're only getting in the 21st century in the areas that benefit their crazy ideas.
 
S

Steel

Banned
Yagharek said:
Human rights violation big time there. Every person has the right according to the UN to freedom of belief.

Let's hops it gets a large public attention and the sentence is dismissed.

I'm not sure whether this law reads like something out of 1984 or 1084. Probably both.
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Hardly the first human rights violation by Saudi Arabia. It's done for this poor guy.
 
Nikodemos

Nikodemos

Member
If you're an atheist in Saudi Arabia, run away! Literally run, swim, get the fuck away from that place any way you can before they beat you into a pulp and throw you in jail.
 
S

spekkeh

Banned
The 28-year-old man, whose name has not been disclosed, is said to have admitted his atheist views and refused to repent, saying the tweets reflect his beliefs and that he has the right to express them.
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Damn hero.
 
D

darkinstinct

...lacks reading comprehension.
Why would you do that when you know the law? He can be glad that it's only 10 years, the standard punishment for blasphemy unless you're a foreigner is beheading. Maybe he is one? By now everyone should know how crazy that country is, they basically have the same law as ISIS.
 
E

EloquentM

aka Mannny
darkinstinct said:
Why would you do that when you know the law? He can be glad that it's only 10 years, the standard punishment for blasphemy unless you're a foreigner is beheading. Maybe he is one? By now everyone should know how crazy that country is, they basically have the same law as ISIS.
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Always posts like this in these threads. This is a joke post perhaps though?
 
S

Speely

Banned
This man is a hero.

Religious dogma is NEVER good for anyone. This is where it leads, every time. Additionally, religious views should not be viewed as a separate entity from any other view. If it's fucking insane, call it insane, no matter the origin. No ideology should enjoy immunity to criticism merely because it is based on an invisible sky god.

Thanks for the info on #SaveTheSaudiAtheist, OP. Will support, for what it's worth.
 
O

orochi91

Member
The 28-year-old man, whose name has not been disclosed, is said to have admitted his atheist views and refused to repent, saying the tweets reflect his beliefs and that he has the right to express them.
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Dude's brave.

Knowing he would likely face severe punishment, he expresses his views anyways.

But why express these views while he's still within the KSA? That just seems extremely stupid; is he hoping to become a martyr?
 
G

Gurthang

Banned
Yagharek said:
Human rights violation big time there. Every person has the right according to the UN to freedom of belief.

Let's hops it gets a large public attention and the sentence is dismissed.

I'm not sure whether this law reads like something out of 1984 or 1084. Probably both.
Click to expand...

This is just casual stuff
Nothing is going to change.
 
C

ClosingADoor

Member
The 28-year-old man, whose name has not been disclosed, is said to have admitted his atheist views and refused to repent, saying the tweets reflect his beliefs and that he has the right to express them.
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The bravest kind of man right here. That takes a lot of courage. I would have caved and just told them whatever they wanted.
 
S

Stinkles

Clothed, sober, cooperative
Aside from the disgraceful human rights violation, isn't it actually MORE blasphemous to suggest Allah is somehow so weak and petty that a tweet will harm him?
 
F

Frodo

Member
Poor Saudi Arabian people having to deal with that backward, oppressive, backwards, archaic, and, did I mention completely backward poor excuse for a government. It is barbaric, salvage and it shouldn't be allowed to exist at the current state at this era.
 
P

Protome

Member
Stinkles said:
Aside from the disgraceful human rights violation, isn't it actually MORE blasphemous to suggest Allah is somehow so weak and petty that a tweet will harm him?
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Sure, but applying logic to religion is not something that section of the world is known for.
 
S

Steel

Banned
Stinkles said:
Aside from the disgraceful human rights violation, isn't it actually MORE blasphemous to suggest Allah is somehow so weak and petty that a tweet will harm him?
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Hilariously, if this were back in the Ottoman Empire, non-believers would just be taxed and treated like second-class citizens for the most part. It's kinda amazing how much worse Wahabi Islam is than any sect before it.
 
C

cameron

Member
orochi91 said:
Dude's brave.

Knowing he would likely face severe punishment, he expresses his views anyways.

But why express these views while he's still within the KSA? That just seems extremely stupid; is he hoping to become a martyr?
Click to expand...

Civil disobedience hoping to bring about change from within the country. It's not unlike women in SA who have defied driving bans, protested for the right to vote, and protested against the religious police. They have done this while risking imprisonment and judicial corporal punishment.
 
S

Stinkles

Clothed, sober, cooperative
This is one that the Wahabbi defense force (yep GAF has one!) will just ignore because there's barely an angle, but if they do show up it will be "he's deliberately provoking the SA govt because he's a Shia sympathizer blah blah something something they warned him blah blah they won't do all the lashes anyway blah blah cultural difference."
 
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