March 08, 2003

OUR FRIENDS THE SAUDIS EXPLAIN PROPER FLOGGING TECHNIQUE: USE THE WRIST IN A FLICKING MOTION

        An Australian national living in Saudi Arabia, 56-year-old Robert Thomas, has been flogged after being found guilty of breaking the Kingdom’s laws. Thomas, who asserts his innocence, is currently serving a 16-month sentence and has received 300 lashes for his alleged involvement in the theft of medical equipment, a crime for which his Filipino wife was also arrested. Saudi justice has come under criticism from Australia, a country governed under quaint Anglo-Saxon rules of justice, as opposed to Islamic Sharia law practiced in Saudi Arabia. Australian Prime Minister John Howard has described the floggings by Saudi authorities as “cruel and appallingly inhumane”. Fortunately, however, the Saudis explain their humane motives: “The reason the punishment is meted out in public is not to humiliate, but to serve as a deterrent,” Adil Salahi, an expert in Shariah law, told Arab News.

“During a flogging, the man inflicting the punishment is required under Shariah law to keep his elbow at his side and only use his wrist in a flicking motion so as not to cause too much pain.”
      One method that is used to ensure that the elbow does not leave the side, he explains, is to hold a copy of the Qu’ran under his arm. “If the person receiving the punishment is in poor health, or at risk of death from the punishment itself, the person inflicting the punishment is required to hold 10 canes and count each stroke as 10,” Salahi adds.

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