Saudi Arabia ends the punishment of flogging

Saudi Arabia ends the punishment of flogging

Saudi Arabia's Supreme Court announced on Saturday that the kingdom had ended flogging as punishment.

The move has been hailed by the king and his powerful son as one of the "advances in human rights."

In Saudi Arabia, court flogging - sometimes spreading to hundreds of lashes - has long been condemned by human rights groups.

The Saudi Supreme Court said the latest reform aims to "bring the kingdom into line with international human rights principles against corporal punishment".

Previously the courts could order the flogging of convicts found guilty of offences ranging from extramarital sex and breach of the peace to murder.

In future, judges will have to choose between fines and/or jail sentences, or non-custodial alternatives like community service, the court said in a statement.

The abolition of the punishment in Saudi Arabia comes just days after the kingdom's human rights record was again in the discussion following the  death of leading activist Abdullah al-Hamid from a stroke in custody.

Hamid was a founding member of the Saudi Civil and Political Rights Association (ACPRA) and was sentenced in March 2013 to 11 years in prison, campaigners said.

Criticism of Saudi Arabia's human rights record started growing as King Salman nominated his son, Prince Mohammed, as heir to the throne in June 2017.

The assassination of vocal critic Jamal Khashoggi inside the Saudi consulate in Istanbul in October 2018 and the growing repression of dissent at home have confirmed the prince's commitment to modernizing the economy and society.

The most egregious example of flogging in recent years was Saudi blogger Raif Badawi, who was sentenced in 2014 to 10 years in prison and 1,000 lashes for making anti-religious remarks.