Thursday, November 17, 2005

Saudi Teacher Sentenced to 750 Lashes

(11-17) 09:10 PST DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) --

A high-school chemistry teacher accused of discussing religion with his students has been sentenced to 750 lashes and 40 months in prison for blasphemy, officials said Thursday.

The court ruling was condemned by human activists, who said Mohammed Salamah al-Harbi was being imprisoned for having an "open discussion" with students.

Al-Harbi was convicted of questioning and ridiculing , discussing the and defending Jews, judicial officials said Thursday on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to talk to the media.

Our government isn't going to verbally criticize this. How can citizens, using technology, educate open-minded people on the ground in these draconian societes about ? Answer - more of this:

Sabbah’s Blog
The Religious Policeman
Mahmood's Den - nice blogroll here too
Saudi Jeans

...and more voices fighting against this:
Saudi Arabia blocks access to Blogger, Flickr, LiveJournal