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Ali Hussein Sibat: Do not travel to Saudi Arabia

1 by PaulParal
A father of five children, a Lebanese astrologer/psychic/ TV personality/ Ali Hussain Sabat is very close to be beheaded within the next 48 hours. As the article quotes: Mr.Sabat appears to have been convicted solely for the peaceful exercise of his rightful freedom of expression. He traveled to Saudi Arabia from Lebanon in 2008 from his home in Beirut. He was arrested by religious police in the Saudi city of Medina during a pilgrimage and then sentenced to death on November 9 of the same year. Sabat's lawyer, May el-Khansa, told several news agencies Wednesday that she believes her client will be executed within 48 hours. She's appealing to Lebanese authorities, including the country's ambassador to Saudi Arabia, to intervene. This is outrageous!!!
Paul Paral

3 by Deb
It is tragic. Very sad and truly shocking. Less than a year ago I reported on a popular Sri Lankan astrologer who was arrested under similar circumstances:

http://skyscript.co.uk/forums/viewtopic.php?p=41059

We western astrologers write about the bygone days when astrologers were in peril and murdered with fascination in something from which we are historically detached. Very sobering to stop and think that this still goes on in ths day and age, and we are powerless to do anything about it.

4 by Eddy
This is terrible
he link mentioned by Paul wrote:It is worth mentioning that Saudi Arabia has no clear legal definition on the charge of witchcraft and judges are given discretionary power in determining what constitutes a crime and what sentence to impose.
It seems that judges over there can almost entirely take the place of the lawgiver.

Probably they will follow the Hadith, traditional Islamic 'jurisprudence'. I believe there are several of these. This is an example on 'sorcery': http://islamicweb.com/beliefs/creed/abd ... hap-22.htm

6 by Deb
I'm sure the lawyer's media announcements helped. The story got some coverage in the national newspapers here yesterday. I really hope the media keeps the pressure up and ensures this man's release back to his family. He has been in prison now for nearly 2 years, simply for passing through that country after making predictions on a satellite channel from his home in another country. This could be any of us.

I wonder if the astrological associations are willing to write to politicians about this, in the same way that the AA writes to complain to the BBC?

I'll ask about that.

Deb

7 by PaulParal
Dear Colleagues, appeals should be sent to:

King and Prime Minister
His Majesty King ?Abdullah Bin ?Abdul ?Aziz Al-Saud
The Custodian of the two Holy Mosques
Office of His Majesty the King
Royal Court, Riyadh
Kingdom of Saudi Arabia
Fax: (via Ministry of the Interior)
+966 1 403 1185
Salutation: Your Majesty

Second Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of the Interior
His Royal Highness Prince Naif bin ?Abdul ?Aziz Al-Saud, Ministry of the Interior, P.O. Box 2933, Airport Road
Riyadh 11134
Kingdom of Saudi Arabia
Fax: +966 1 403 1185
Salutation: Your Royal Highness

Copies to:
President, Human Rights Commission
Bandar Mohammed ?Abdullah al- Aiban
Human Rights Commission
P.O. Box 58889, King Fahad Road, Building No. 373, Riyadh 11515
Kingdom of Saudi Arabia
Fax: +966 1 461 2061
Email: hrc@haq-ksa.org
Salutation: Dear Mr al-Aiban

Also, send copies to Saudi Arabian diplomatic representatives accredited to your country.

To follow up: http://www.amnesty.org

Paul

8 by Deb
To update this thread, the AA have just sent out a newsletter urging their members to write to the addresses given in this thread. I'm not sure if they are planning to write their own letter too but I was given the impression that was happening several days ago. Nick Campion has also mentioned that there is a face book group dedicated to offering support. I'm not a facebook member myself, but imagine it is easy to get the link for that.
I sent my own letter to the Saudi Arabian Embassy on behalf of the Skyscript site, cc-d to the FCO about a week ago. It can be viewed as a PDF file on the link below:
http://skyscript.co.uk/pdf/ali_sabat.pdf

Unfortunately the news has gone quiet. Please keep us informed Paul if you hear any more news.

Deb

Lebanon Man held for Sorcery in Saudi Arabia

9 by leomoon
Thank you for writing that nice letter Deborah, I hope to God that someone is listening and witnesssing this travesty.

I'm sure you will let us know if there is any response to your plea.

http://www.news.pushpi.com/tag/ali-sabat
REF:
Human rights groups have accused the Saudis of "sanctioning a literal witch hunt by the religious police".

An Egyptian working as a pharmacist in Saudi Arabia was executed in 2007 after having been found guilty of using sorcery to try to separate a married couple.

There is no legal definition of witchcraft in Saudi Arabia, but horoscopes and fortune telling are condemned as un-Islamic.

10 by PaulParal
So far there have not been any new developments. The Facebook Group " PLEASE SIGN THE PETITION TO SAVE Ali Hussein Sibat FROM EXECUTION" is waiting to hear from the lawyer of Ali Sibat. Apparently, executions are carried only on Fridays. So, so far good news for another week. All we can do is to keep pushing, and pushing and pushing. Obviously, they have changed their minds somewhat, if it would not be for the overwhelming reaction to this insanity, he would be dead by now.

12 by Deb
Hi Paul

It's good news about the execution, but I hope the story doesn't get forgotten now. The poor man has already been in prison for 2 years - for whatever reason we don't understand. I think the world should continue to take notice until we hear of his release, or get a better explanation for the reason behind his arrest.

Regards
Deb

BTW - Another astrologer sent me this link, and it does seem worth including here: a 1979 newspaper report of the Saudi Arabian Oil Minister, Sheikh Zaki Yamani, being himself an astrologer who "never makes a decision without consulting his charts". According to him "Saudi Arabia is a Virgo, almost on the cusp of Libra".

http://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=1144
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