BEIRUT: Saudi Arabia has apparently decided to hold off on carrying out the execution of a Lebanese former TV presenter convicted of sorcery, a Lebanese minister and the man s lawyer said on Thursday.
Ali Sabat s mother should rest assured tonight, Lebanese Justice Minister Ibrahim Najjar told AFP. That is what I called his lawyer to say, and that is all that I can say.
If I didn t have the necessary proof I wouldn t have said that to her.
Sabat s lawyer, May El-Khansa, who had earlier stated she had heard through unofficial channels that her client would be beheaded on Friday, said she was relieved by the latest developments.
Saudi officials have refused to comment on the matter.
Sabat was arrested in May 2008 by the religious police in the Saudi holy city of Medina, where he was on a pilgrimage.
Amnesty International says a court there charged the father of five with sorcery and sentenced him to death in 2009 after he made predictions on a Lebanese television program that was broadcast in Saudi Arabia.
Najjar said Saudi authorities must realize the charges against Sabat are not dealt with in the same manner in other countries while stressing Lebanon s respect for the kingdom s sovereignty and sharia, or Islamic law.
The same charge in Lebanon is considered a misdemeanor and is punishable by up to two months in prison, he said.
I hope I have done the necessary [concerning this case] and I hope other Lebanese officials have done the same.
Rape, murder, apostasy, armed robbery, drug trafficking and sorcery are among the crimes punishable by death in Saudi Arabia, which strictly applies a version of sharia.
Rights groups have expressed concern about Sabat s case and similar ones pending in Saudi Arabia and have accused Saudi courts of sanctioning a literal witch-hunt by the religious police.
They have also criticized Lebanese officials for failing to publicly take up Sabat s case.
[Since] this whole thing came to light . we did not see a lot of action by the Lebanese diplomats and government officials to try to seek clemency or advocate on behalf of their national, Human Rights Watch senior researcher Christophe Wilcke told AFP.
Amnesty International also expressed concern about the case.
Ali Hussain Sabat appears to have been convicted solely for the peaceful exercise of his right to freedom of expression, Malcolm Smart, head of the group s Middle East and North Africa program, said in a statement.
It is high time the Saudi Arabian government joined the international trend towards a worldwide moratorium on executions, Smart said, urging Lebanese authorities and Saudi King Abdullah to stop the execution.
About 25 people protested on Thursday outside the Saudi embassy in Beirut against capital punishment, setting up a mock gallows with a dummy on a rope.
Khansa said Sabat s appeal against his conviction was rejected but that he can still be pardoned by the ruler of the province where he was judged.
She said the 46-year-old had no lawyer in the kingdom as he could not afford one.
In November 2007, Mustafa Ibrahim, an Egyptian working as a pharmacist in Saudi Arabia, was beheaded after being found guilty of sorcery.
