Punished rape victim lawyer faces disciplinary action in S Arabia

Dubai, Nov 18 (UNI) The lawyer of a gang-rapes victim sentenced to 200 lashes and six months in a Saudi Arabian jail has been suspended from the case and faces a disciplinary session after he condemned the punishment as ''violation of Islamic laws''.

Abdel Rahman Al Lahem said the sentence was in violation of Islamic law.

''My client is the victim of this abhorrent crime. I believe her sentence contravenes the Islamic Sharia law and violates the pertinent international conventions,'' Gulf news quoted him as saying.

''The judicial bodies should have dealt with this girl as the victim rather than the culprit.'' While the woman's seven attackers were given jail terms raging from one to five years, the court also punished her for being in an unrelated man's car at the time of the attack.

Saudi Arabia forbids unrelated men and women from associating with each other.

The court said the girl was punished for attempting to aggravate and influence the judiciary through the media.

The victim was raped about 18 months ago in Qatif, a city in the Eastern province, and has been named by Saudi media as ''the Qatif girl''.

UNI