Shaima Jastaina sentenced to 10 lashes after being found guilty of driving without permission
A Saudi woman has been sentenced to be lashed 10 times with a whip for defying the kingdom's prohibition on female drivers.
It is the first time a legal punishment has been handed down for a violation of the longtime ban in the ultraconservative Muslim nation.
Police usually stop female drivers, question them and let them go after they sign a pledge not to drive again. But dozens of women have continued to take to the roads since June in a campaign to break the taboo.
The sentence comes two days after King Abdullah promised to protect women's rights and decreed women would be allowed to participate in municipal elections in 2015. Abdullah also promised to appoint women to the all-male shura council advisory body.
The mixed signals highlight the challenge for Abdullah, known as a reformer, in pushing gently for change without antagonising the powerful clergy and a conservative segment of the population.
Comment: It beggars belief that there is no written law banning women from driving and yet they get stopped by the police and a court has passed a flogging sentence for conduct which is not a criminal offence. Furthermore, if a man commits a traffic violation he receives a fine. Women on the other hand are subject to a whipping. Why does the UK have trade links with such a barbaric country?
'Cos they got the luvely jubly fungible oil on which our society depends for its primary transport energy source?
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