Saudi Arabia has decided to put an end to flogging as a form of punishment, according to a document published Friday April 24, 2020 by the highest court in the kingdom.
Reuters reports that the decision of the General Commission of the Supreme Court, taken during the month, will see the punishment replaced by prison sentences or fines, or a mixture of the two.
The flogging, which was applicable to sanction a certain number of crimes in Saudi Arabia, falls into the category of Ta’zir, which means a punishment provided at the discretion of the judiciary or leaders for crimes where the sentences are not specified in the two main sources of the Sharia law.
“This reform is a considerable step in the human rights program in Saudi Arabia, and is only one of the many recent reforms in the Kingdom,” the President of the Human Rights (HRC), Awwad Alawwad, in Reuters.
In Saudi Arabia, other forms of body punishment, such as amputation for theft or beheading for murder and crimes of terrorism, are still in progress.
