I have resisted posting about this incident because it upsets me too much. But now I am too pissed off to ignore it!

The Saudi Justice Ministry Tuesday issued a "clarification" of a court's handling of a rape case and the increased punishment -- including 200 lashes --meted out to the victim.

The case, which has sparked media scrutiny of the Saudi legal system, centers on a married woman. The 19-year-old and an unrelated man were abducted, and she was raped by a group of seven men more than a year ago, according to Abdulrahman al-Lahim, the attorney who represented her in court.

The woman was originally sentenced in October 2006 to 90 lashes. But that sentence was more than doubled to 200 lashes and six months in prison by the Qatif General Court, because she spoke to the media about the case, a court source told Middle Eastern daily newspaper Arab News.

Okay I have read this so called "clarification" and it is total bullshit! Here it is, judge for yourself:

"We would like to state that the system has ensured them the right to object to the ruling and to request an appeal," the statement continued, "without resorting to sensationalism through the media that may not be fair or may not grant anyone any rights, and instead may negatively affect all the other parties involved in the case."

The statement also described the progress of the woman's case and explained that it was heard by a panel of three judges, not one judge "as mentioned in some media reports."

It said the case was treated normally through regular court procedures, and that the woman, her male companion and the perpetrators of the crime all agreed in court to the sentences handed down.

So the message here is that if you accept the court blaming you for being the victim of a crime, and don't expose the totally hypocrisy of this so called "justice system", you will be beaten only half as hard as you would if you dare to point out that the system is antiquated and primitive.

In other words this Saudi "justice" system does not want to be exposed to the critical eye of the media. And what does that tell you?

I am outraged that in this day and age ANY modern society would even contemplate punishing the victim of a rape in any manner, much less the unbelievably barbaric method of administering lashes. I don't care how much oil these under evolved neanderthals have beneath their sand, we should refuse to do business with them and remove our military support until they do away with these horribly archaic laws.