Lebanese Man To Be Beheaded in Saudi Arabia, Charged with Sorcery
Speaking for his client, a lawyer has said that his client, a Lebanese man has been charged with sorcery and is scheduled to be beheaded on Friday in Saudi Arabia, reports CNN.
The man's name is Ali Hussain Sibat. His lawyer May El Khansa told CNN that she and her client's family were informed about the execution from a source in Saudi Arabia who knows about the case and said that Saudi authorities will carry out the execution.
The lawyer appealed to Lebanon's prime minister, Saad Hariri, and president, Michel Suleiman, to get to put a stop the execution.Saudi Arabia's King Abdullah has been contacted by Amnesty International to stop it too.
The story behind the sorcery case goes like this: The Lebanese man in question used to be the host of a popular call-in show that was telecast on Beirut-based satellite channel. Sibat used to predict future on his show and advise accordingly.
When Sibat went to Saudi Arabia to perform Umra (the Islamic religious pilgrimage), he was arrested by Saudi Arabia's religious police (known as the Mutawa'een) and then charged with sorcery in May 2008.
After trial, in November 2009, he was found guilty in a court in Medina and sentenced to death.
Sibat appealed against the verdict and the Court of Appeal in the Saudi city of Mecca took up the case on the grounds that the earlier verdict was "premature."
The case was sent back to the original court for reconsideration by Mecca appeals court , with the condition that all charges made against Sibat should be verified and he should be given a chance to repent.
But on March 10, Medina court upheld their earlier verdict, which means that Sibat is once again sentenced to death.
The lawyer told CNN that her client will appeal the verdict once more.
