http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/05/14/christian-conversion-saudi-arabia-_n_3272441.html
May 13 2013 - RIYADH
(Reuters) - A court in Saudi Arabia has sentenced two men to lashes and prison
terms for converting a woman to Christianity and helping her flee the
conservative Islamic kingdom, the Saudi Gazette reported on Monday.
A Lebanese man was
sentenced to six years in prison and 300 lashes for converting the woman, while
a Saudi man was sentenced to two years and 200 lashes for aiding her escape
abroad, the English-language daily said. It added that the pair had challenged
the verdict and would appeal.
A spokesman at the
justice ministry could not immediately be reached for comment.
In Saudi Arabia, the
birthplace of Islam, it is against the law for Muslims to abandon their faith,
a practice known as apostasy. Proselytising for other religions or practising
them openly is also illegal.
Judges have
considerable leeway in how to interpret the kingdom's Sharia code of Islamic
law and are not bound by sentencing guidelines or a system of precedent. Both
capital and corporal punishment are legal.
The case emerged last
year after the woman's family complained that she had been
"brainwashed" by colleagues at the insurance company where she worked
and that they had helped her leave Saudi Arabia via Bahrain on false documents.
The woman, whose name
has not been released, was granted asylum in Sweden last year, the newspaper
reported.
Last year King
Abdullah, who has promoted limited reforms since coming to the throne in 2005,
opened a centre for religious dialogue in Vienna that drew criticism because of
Saudi Arabia's own lack of religious freedom. In 2008 he sponsored an
inter-faith conference in Spain.
(Reporting By Angus
McDowall, Editing by William Maclean and Alistair Lyon)
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