Australia protests after expatriate flogged in Saudi Arabia (man flogged for wife's crime)

UTUSAN Express ^ | March 5, 2003 | AFP

[hotpotato]

Australia protests after expatriate flogged in Saudi Arabia

SYDNEY March 5 - Australian Prime Minister John Howard lashed out Wednesday at Saudi Arabia's ``appallingly inhumane'' treatment of a middle-aged Melbourne man jailed and flogged for a crime he did not commit.

Foreign affairs officials have already protested to Saudi Arabia about its treatment of hospital technician Robert Thomas, 55, who was arrested last June and jailed for a theft allegedly committed by his Filipina wife, Lorna.

She denied a charge of stealing hospital equipment, but was convicted and, under Saudi Arabia's strict system of Islamic justice, Thomas was held to have been guilty by association.

His family in Melbourne has been told that under Saudi culture, it is considered ``inconceivable'' that a woman could commit a crime without her husband's knowledge.

Australian officials say they were both sentenced to 16 months' jail and 300 lashes, and have received their full measure of canings, 50 blows at a time in public once a fortnight for three months.

Thomas, a father of three who has lived in Saudi Arabia for 10 years, ran the sterilisation department of the Prince Abdullah Bin Abdulaziz Hospital in Riyadh.

But he is now sharing an overcrowded cell with seven other men, none of whom can speak English. Violence is rife among the prisoners and he is also under pressure to convert to Islam, his daughter Sarah Munro said.

She told reporters her father is being treated ``like an animal'' for a crime allegedly committed by his wife, a nurse.

``Dad believes that Lorna did commit the crime,'' Munro said. ``He is upset, he feels betrayed and he won't be seeking to bring her home to Australia when he is released.''

Howard said he had initiated some inquiries about the case which he described as ``quite appalling''.

``I know that we have to accept that if we go to another country, we are subject to the laws of that country, but it does seem to be to me a cruelly disproportionate punishment according to the values and understandings of Australia and I'm sure many other people.''

He said he shared the anguish of Thomas' family.

Munro said she believed her father was being punished because of the current standoff in the Middle East over Iraq and anger in Islamic countries over US policy towards Baghdad, which is supported by Australia.

She said her father had been refused a pardon by Saudi authorities during the holy month of Ramadan and called on the Australian government to do more to help.

She feared for her father's safety in jail and urged the government to try harder to get an early release.

``I believe if the Australian Embassy (in Saudi Arabia) steps up and goes to bat for him, he's more likely to be sent home in June, rather than November,'' she said.

``He's already seen one riot occur in the food hall and he's suffering at the moment from varicose veins.

``And because he's worked in hospitals there he doesn't trust the country's health system. They've offered him pain relief in a cream, but he won't take anything more than that.'' - AFP

[Cicero]

What exactly does this article mean by "expatriate"? Yes, I know what the dictionary says. "1. One who has taken up residence in a foreign country. 2. One who has renounced one's native land." That leaves it ambiguous whether he is still an Australian citizen. It seems unlikely that the Saudis would give a foreign infidel citizenship.

[demnomo]

Ain't Sharia (Islamic law) grand? This is what every devout Muslim wants to inflict upon the entire world via violent jihad. Fanatical barbarians who still dwell in the 7th Century need to get a clue and join the modern civilized world. (Yeah, right.)

I wish I knew more about the details of the guy's wife. Under Sharia, anyone convicted of theft has a hand lopped off along with the assorted canings, lashings and prison time. Is it just me or is the guy being a bit harsh and vengeful for abandoning his maimed wife to that barbaric culture? Yes, theft is wrong and the guy has good reason to partially blame his wife's behavior for his predicament, but I think the marriage must have had problems way before this episode. I wonder what she stole? Sharia punishment makes little distinction between taking office supplies or something more serious like drugs or medical equipment.

[demnomo]

I reread the article. It seems she stole hospital equipment. Pencils, paper or an incubator could be considered hospital equipment. Either way, she and her husband are paying a big price. No one could convince me to live in that ignorant, backwards, full-of-Islamofacists country--not for any amount of money.

[Agog]

I don't see anything in the article that suggests he renounced Australian citizenship. In any event, the term expatriate is commonly used to refer to citizens of one country residing in another for an indefinite period of time. Your post would appear to suggest he has engaged in some unspecified sinister behviour.

[Eric in the Ozarks]

Frightful.

[swarthyguy]

>>under Saudi culture, it is considered ``inconceivable'' that a woman could commit a crime without her husband's knowledge.

SO what that does say about Prince Bandar's wife (Saudi AmbtoUS and honored guest at the Crawford Ranch) from whose bank account money flowed to some of the scum who attacked us on September 11.

Saudis are such scummy liars. And the US still keeps kissing their patooties with great passion, feeling and enjoyment.

[GovernmentShrinker]

"Expatriate" is a business (and in many cases tax and/or immigration) term. Generally, from a company's standpoint, it means an employee who is a native of the company's home country, who is working for the company in another country while retaining the employment status s/he would have in the native country (i.e Europeans working in the U.S. who can't be fired and get 8 weeks vacation a year). In this situation, it may be a term used by the hospital and the Saudi government to describe a foreigner working legally in the country, probably with formal endorsement by the employer (i.e. not just someone who is legally in the country and can go around looking for work anywhere).

[wretchard]

The War on Terror will not be over until a few Middle Eastern Presidents, some Saudi Royals and Pakistani ISI generals are swinging from a gibbet. The message should be: if we could hang Germans and Japanese, we can hang you.

Of course, it is equally important to punish only the guilty. The carrot must be in contrast to the stick. There must be safety, prosperity and respect towards every person who behaves in an upright way and nothing but the noose for the guilty, be they ever so exalted.

[radioman]

You can call it a tax thing. When I was working overseas, you had to stay longer than eighteen months to get a tax break. People who stayed the eighteen, were called expatriates.