Saudi Arabia: Gay man jailed for three years over naked photos

A gay man in Saudi Arabia has been jailed for three years, for engaging in ‘immoral acts’ by taking naked photos of himself.

The man – whose name has not been made available – was convicted by a court after he was found with naked selfies on his phone – which he had allegedly sent to other men via social media.

Gulf News reports that the Commission for the Promotion of Virtue and the Prevention of Vice claims the man had also offered to have anal sex.

He was found guilty by the court in Dammam, and sentenced to three years behind bars, with a fine of 100,000 Saudi riyal ($26651.74).

Homosexuality and cross-dressing are both expressly criminalized in Saudi Arabia, where the gay community faces regular raids from the religious police.

WARNING: This article contains graphic images. If you do not wish to see them, do not scroll down.

We condemn ISIS’ public beheadings, but in 2012-13, our allies in Saudi Arabia cut the heads off of 79 people.

Let’s play “Compare and Contrast” for a moment: Two oppressive, authoritarian Muslim regimes acting under the auspices of Sharia Law publicly behead scores of non-violent people, primarily to instill fear in those who might resist said regime’s self-asserted authority over the region.

People whose heads are cut off are disproportionately foreign nationals, or locals with religious or ideological differences. One of them is ISIS, the other is the government of Saudi Arabia. Which one are we bombing again?

In 2012 and 2013, Saudi Arabia cut the heads off of 79 people for various “crimes” throughout the nation, and it looks like they’re trying to hit the same target this year. Unfortunately, there was a bit of a slowdown earlier in the year, so Saudi Arabia is doing its best to catch up and maintain its previous record.

But Saudi Arabia’s beheadings aren’t just about keeping a title. As London researcher Sevag Kechichian told Al Jazeera:

Saudi Man Sentenced To Three Years And 450 Lashes For 'The Practice Of Homosexuality'

Saudi Arabia has sentenced a man to three years in prison and 450 lashes for “the practise of homosexuality,” after attempting to arrange to meet another man using Twitter, reports LGBTQ Nation.

Arabic newspaper Al-Watan said that “the Commission for the Promotion of Virtue and Prevention of Vice...tracked down the owner of the account” of the man who was trying to arrange sex with another man.

The man’s phone, which contained pornographic images, was also confiscated.

Abdulla, the chair of the United Arab Emirates LGBT group said:

“It is infuriating and disheartening when a country that was elected not too long ago to become a member of the United Nations Human Rights Council arrogantly and nonchalantly violates its core principles and harms its own citizens. Not only is the fundamental human right for privacy breached but the entrapment and sentence also breaches several human rights charters."

Abdulla continued that “if the man survives this ordeal he will find himself an outcast and will be in danger for life after he completes this harsh sentence.”

Saudi Arabia is known for its harsh anti-hay laws. In 2011, Ali Ahmed Asseri, a gay former Saudi diplomat living in Los Angeles in fear for his life, was denied asylum. Asseri's appeal earlier this year was successful.

Saudi Arabia declares atheists terrorists under new laws targeting citizens who 'call for secular thought in any form

Saudi Arabia has officially identified atheists as terrorists in sweeping new laws that threaten up to 20 years in prison for almost any criticism of the government or Islam.

The regulations place secular citizens who commit thought crimes in the same category as violent terrorist groups such as Al-Qaeda's Yemen branch and Saudi Hezbollah.

Under the new decree by King Abdullah, Saudi Arabia will jail for up to 20 years anyone who fights in conflicts abroad - an apparent move to deter Saudis from joining rebels in Syria.

But the law also applies to any Saudi citizen or a foreigner residing in the kingdom that 'calls for atheist thought in any form or calls into question the fundamentals of the Islamic religion on which this country is based.'

The laws have been denounced by human rights groups for making no distinction between religious expression and violent extremism.

'Saudi authorities have never tolerated criticism of their policies, but these recent laws and regulations turn almost any critical expression or independent association into crimes of terrorism,' said Joe Stork, deputy Middle East and North Africa director at Human Rights Watch.

The counter-terrorism measure have also been mocked by Al Qaeda's Yemen branch which said they would not deter the Islamist group's fighters and that they proved the kingdom was in the pay of the United States.

In an online statement, Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP) also said Riyadh's designation of the Muslim Brotherhood - a group whose political wings have contested elections in several countries - as a terrorist organisation proved that secular authorities would never tolerate Islamist groups.

Ugly 'Sport' of Global Anti-Gay Oppression Highlighted in Powerful New PSA

The Russia Freedom Fund, Athlete Ally, and CoPilot have partnered with the Fair Games Project to release a powerful PSA that hopes to highlight LGBT oppression in Russia, Uganda, Belize, Saudi Arabia, Iran, and the 76 nations around the world where being gay is still a crime.

Using the metaphor of a hooligan football team being honored for brutally beating a recently-engaged gay couple, the group hopes to raise awareness about violence inflicted on gays from unfriendly corners of the world.

The  spot was written, directed, and co-produced by Michael Rohrbraugh and executive produced by Chris Svoboda. It features the track "Freedom" by King Avriel.

Rape victim sentenced 200 lashes by Saudi court

"The victim's sentence was increased because her lawyer had spoken out..."

When the defense attorney for a raped Saudi Arabian woman appealed a Sharia Court decision that the 90-lash sentence against his client was unjust, all that was succeeded was the more than doubling of the punishment meted out to the woman who was raped and beaten by seven men, as reported by the women’s rights-centered news portal The Clarion Project on Sept. 22, 2013.

A yet to be publiclly identified female gang rape victim was initially found guilty and sentenced to 90 lashes for violating the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia's (KSA) rigid Islamic law on segregation of the sexes.

The Kingdom’s General Court determined the woman sat in an automobile with an old school chum to whom she was no blood relation, hence, she violated Islamic Sharia Law of gender segregation.

The victim’s lawyer Abdul Rahman al-Lahem had plead to the international community for help in freeing his client or at least pressuring the Saudi government to grant an appeal.

From Bad To Worse…

And an appeal he got -- along with an increase in sentence from 90 lashes to 200 along with a six month prison sentence tacked on for good measure.

The KSA Ministry of Justice implied the victim's sentence was increased because her lawyer had spoken out to the world’s news outlets.

As carried by the government’s official Saudi Press Agency:

For whoever has an objection on verdicts issued, the system allows to appeal without resorting to the media.

The statement also said that the "charges were proven" against the woman for having been in a car with a strange male, and repeated criticism of her lawyer for talking "defiantly" about the judicial system, saying "it has shown ignorance."

The Lead Up…

The victim was attacked in 2006 while she was attempting to retrieve a photograph from a male high school student she knew.

While in her acquaintance’s vehicle, two other men got in the car and drove the woman and her friend to a secluded area where five other men met them.

It was in this remote area where all seven men raped the woman.

The Clarion Project also cited that the woman’s friend was in turn “attacked” by the assailants, but it is unclear if he was beaten, raped or both.

The Price of Questioning Saudi Law...

Abdul Rahman al-Lahem has since banned him from further defending the woman, the KSA has confiscated his law license and summoning him to a disciplinary hearing later this month.