Saudi teen to be beaten, imprisoned after having phone at school

A teenage girl has been sentenced to a 90-lash flogging and two months in prison as punishment for assaulting a teacher, a Saudi judge said in an interview published Sunday.

Amnesty International said the assault happened after the girl was caught with a camera phone at school.

The teen’s name was not immediately available. She could be spared with a pardon from King Abdullah, Judge Riyadh al-Meihdib said.

“The verdict was read out to her at the court and she did not object,” al-Meihdib told Al-Watan, a Saudi daily newspaper.

He said the teacher refused to forgive the girl, who will not appeal the case. The teacher’s condition was unknown, and the newspaper had no details about the dispute.

Al-Watan quoted the school headmaster describing the girl as about 20 years old.
However, Amnesty said the girl is 13.

In a statement Friday, the group urged Abdullah to “intervene immediately to ensure that the flogging sentence is rescinded.”

“He must also take steps to reform Saudi Arabian law and criminal procedure to ban the use of cruel, inhuman and degrading punishment, in particular floggings of children,” said Claudio Cordone, Amnesty interim Secretary General.

The court sentenced the teenager Tuesday.

Judge al-Meihdib said his court will issue instructions to local authorities in Jubail to carry out the sentence within two days.