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Women driving means prostitution, pornography, homosexuality and divorce: Saudi
Posted by admin on Nov 18th, 2011 and filed under Politics & Foreign. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.
Saudi Arabia — Women in Saudi Arabia are not allowed to drive, the only country in the world to do so. Two months ago, Saudi Arabian court sentenced a woman to 10 whips because she was caught driving around. The Saudi king however, immediately revoked the sentence few days later amid international embarrassment.
It seems apparently that Saudi Arabia in reality has no appetite to forgive the woman. We will now continue the stories of that woman who was sentenced to 10 lashes for driving that time.
Saudi women who drive, would be whipped 10 times
Six months ago, Shaima Jastaniya drove her car in one of Jeddah’s streets before getting arrested by the police. In September, Jastaniya was sentenced to 10 lashes for challenging the driving ban which sparked outrage across the world, and a few days later, news spread that she received a pardon from the Saudi monarch himself.
When interrogated, Shaima said she drove her car because she had no means of public or private transportation and needed to get to the hospital.
Shaima’s sentence became a cause celebre within the royal family when it emerged two months ago. Prince Alwaleed bin Talal, a billionaire entrepreneur who is Saudi Arabia’s richest man and his wife, Princess Ameerah, made a personal appeal to the king to spare the young mother. The two have been working and actively taking part in international events to improve Saudi image across the world.
The king agreed, and the royal couple telephoned Shaima to reassure her that the charges would be dropped. But no one seems to have ‘informed’ the court in Jeddah, and it has now notified her that the sentence will stand.

Shaima has appealed against the verdict, but there are fears that the ultra-conservative clerics within the government want to make an example of her to warn all women in the Kingdom not to drive. Prince Nayef bin Abdul-Aziz, the newly appointed Crown Prince, is more conservative than his half-brother the king, and has been adamant in his opposition to granting women greater freedoms. Two female Saudi journalists are now being sued for reporting Shaima’s case, and at least three other women are facing trial for driving.
“Shaima is frightened and very confused,” said a friend and fellow activist in Jeddah. “She thought that this was finished, but apparently not. It was bad enough that she was sentenced, but if she is pardoned and still gets punished it would be ridiculous.”
Saudi Arabia is the only country to deny women the right to drive. But despite renewed protests against the ban this year, resistance to reform and change remains strong among conservative royals and clerics.

Shaima has appealed against the verdict, but there are fears that the ultra-conservative clerics within the government want to make an example of her to warn all women in the Kingdom not to drive. Prince Nayef bin Abdul-Aziz, the newly appointed Crown Prince, is more conservative than his half-brother the king, and has been adamant in his opposition to granting women greater freedoms. Two female Saudi journalists are now being sued for reporting Shaima’s case, and at least three other women are facing trial for driving.
“Shaima is frightened and very confused,” said a friend and fellow activist in Jeddah. “She thought that this was finished, but apparently not. It was bad enough that she was sentenced, but if she is pardoned and still gets punished it would be ridiculous.”
Saudi Arabia is the only country to deny women the right to drive. But despite renewed protests against the ban this year, resistance to reform and change remains strong among conservative royals and clerics.
Saudi ultra-conservative hardline radicals: there would be ‘no more virgins’ in our country within 10 years if we allow women to drive
The Saudi highest religious council, the Majlis al-Ifta’ al-A’ala and conservative professors in King Fahd University, a prestigious university in the kingdom, warned that the country would become a den of evil if the ban on women driving were lifted. In their report, it was stated that allowing women to drive would provoke a surge in prostitution, pornography, homosexuality and divorce. Within 10 years of the ban being lifted, it warned, there would be “no more virgins” in the kingdom.
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