Saudi woman spared from lashes

This story is a follow up to one we published yesterday.The press has been informed that King Abdullah of Saudi Arabia, has overturned a court verdict which previously sentenced a woman to 10 lashes for driving a car. 

LOS ANGELES, CA (Catholic Online) - The press has been informed that King Abdullah of Saudi Arabia, has overturned a court verdict which previously sentenced a woman to 10 lashes for driving a car. 

The official declined to be identified and spoke on the condition of anonymity. Just a day previously, a court found Shamia Jastina guilty of violating the country's ban on female drivers and sentenced her to 10 lashes. 

The guilty verdict surprised many, coming on the heels of an announcement that women would soon be allowed to vote and hold public office in the ultra-conservative Islamic monarchy. 

Under Saudi law, women need the permission of a male guardian to work, travel, or even have certain kinds of surgery. And while there is no official law against women drivers, licenses are not issued to women--which functionally makes it illegal for women to drive. 

Typically, police who catch women driving question them and make them sign a pledge not to drive again. However, as the Arab Spring movement swept across the middle east, it came to Saudi Arabia in the form of women's suffrage. A particular manifestation of that was the public emergence of female activists driving cars. 

Many women have organized via social networks and are still challenging the country's driving ban. For the time being, King Abdullah has said nothing about changing that aspect of inequality, however sparing Shamia Jastina of her lashes is a step in the right direction.

---

'Help Give every Student and Teacher FREE resources for a world-class Moral Catholic Education'