10 Apr 12 | Index Index, minipost
A woman has been sentenced to 50 lashes for swearing at her friend in a text message in Saudi Arabia. Following an argument between two women, aged 33 and 31, about where to go on an evening over the weekend, the two women went their separate ways. Some time later, one of the women sent a text message including a swear word. The recipient went to court and showed the text message to a judge. Although the woman said she was joking when she sent the message, she was sentenced to be lashed 50 times.
15 Aug 11 | Index Index, Middle East and North Africa, minipost
Omani officials are threatening to shut down Al-Zaman, an independent newspaper, after it published allegations of corruption in the Ministry of Justice. Youssef al-Haj was interrogated for writing the articles questioning the Ministry’s decision to prevent Haroun al-Mukbeeli, a long-time civil servant, from appealing a refusal to provide him with an increase in salary and grade. He was eventually ordered to stop any protest of the decision. Following the release of the article, officials banned Al-Haj from writing, and he could potentially serve time in prison. The editor-in-chief of the paper, Ibrahim al-Ma’mari, was also interrogated by officials.
14 Jun 11 | Index Index, Middle East and North Africa, minipost
Twenty-year-old student, Ayat al-Gormezi, who recited poems critical of Bahrain’s rulers at a Shia-led protest in Pearl Square has been sentenced to a year in prison. In the lead up to her trial she claimed that she was beaten in prison and she has now been convicted of charges which include inciting hatred. One verse of the poem, addressed directly to King Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa, read: “We are the people who will kill humiliation and assassinate misery. Don’t you hear their cries?” According to her mother, Sada al-Qurmezi, an appeal is planned.
28 Feb 11 | Index Index, Middle East and North Africa, minipost
Pro-reform demonstrators in the industrial town of Sohar have clashed with police, leading to the deaths of six protesters. The protesters, demanding political and economic reforms, had blocked roads, attacked government buildings, and tried to free detainees from the town’s police station.
