Riyadh, Saudi Arabia (AP) - A Saudi court convicted a man and sentenced him to four months in prison and 90 lashes for kissing a woman in a mall, a government-owned daily reported Thursday. Don't laugh. Not loudly, anyway. They have plenty of money, courtesy of oil revenues from the West. Just note that this is what Sharia enforcement will one day look like in the West, if nothing is ever done to halt the advance of Sharia in Western countries. "Iran to intensify clothing curbs, citing 'Islamic values,'" from Bloomberg, June 10 (thanks to Twostellas): "Producing and distributing inappropriate clothes, those not complying with Islamic and Iranian culture, should be avoided," Abbas Miraei, who heads the Office of Supervision of the Public Sphere for the Iranian police, was cited as saying today by Iranian Labour News Agency. Further details weren't immediately available. Iran has set aside $1.5 billion to promote "moral conduct," including enforcement of its dress code for women, "to solve the cultural and social ills" in society, Interior Minister Mostafa Mohammad-Najjar said on May 10. His comments followed the introduction of a code of conduct at Shiraz University of Medical Sciences that bans loud laughter, nail polish, high heels and immodest clothing for women and men. The police will "deal firmly" with violators of Iran's laws on moral conduct, Mohammad Najjar said last month. A cleric at Tehran's main Friday prayers, Iran's largest, said in April that women who dress immodestly cause earthquakes. Iranian authorities increase their enforcement of the women's dress code annually to prevent them from abandoning Islamic dress amid summer temperatures that can reach 42 degrees Celsius (107 Fahrenheit) in Tehran. Under Shiraz University's code, in effect since Feb. 20, women must wear loose, long coats in subdued colors that go below the knee. Men aren't permitted to wear jewelry, except for a wedding ring, nor short-sleeve shirts, and their trousers should be loose. Shoes shouldn't have pointed toes, make noise or have heels higher than 3 centimeters (1.2 inches).
Thursday, June 10, 2010 By Abdullah Al-Shihri, Associated Press http://www.cnsnews.com/news/article/67508
Saudi religious police arrested the man and two women after seeing them on mall cameras "engaging in immoral movements in front of other shoppers," the Al-Yom newspaper said.
The man, who is in his 20s, was seen with a woman "sitting on one of the chairs, exchanging kisses and hugs." It was unclear what the other woman was doing. Neither the man nor the women were identified by name.
The kingdom's powerful religious police, under the control of the Commission for the Promotion of Virtue and Prevention of Vice, enforce Saudi Arabia's strict interpretation of Islam, which prohibits unrelated men and women from mingling.
Zealous officers routinely jail unrelated couples found sitting together in restaurants or coffee shops.
The policemen also patrol public places to ensure women are covered and not wearing makeup; shops are forced in most places to close several times a day for Muslim prayers and men go to the mosque and worship.
Such kissing busts have increased as economic pressures have made it harder for young couples to marry and as the ultraconservative kingdom grapples with a push to relax its strict social mores.
Young men often must pay more than $50,000 in dowry and gold before their brides' families will accept marriage - a huge burden in a country where economists put male unemployment at over 20 percent.
But the Saudi establishment remains divided on how far separation rules should go.
King Abdullah has been encouraging change in the oil-rich kingdom since becoming crown prince in 1982, and has intensified his efforts since assuming the thrown in 2005.
Male and female students can study together at the newly opened King Abdullah Science and Technology University, launched by the Saudi monarch last year. Abdullah dismissed a prominent hard-line cleric who criticized the policy.
But in April, the head of the religious police fired the chief of the Mecca branch for suggesting that women and men should be able to mix freely, showing that such reforms have their limits.
The newspaper said the man sentenced for kissing will receive his 90 lashes in three batches, and is banned from malls for two years.
The women will be tried in another court.Iran will step up measures to force retailers selling clothing to comply with "Islamic values," according to the police.
Thursday, 10 June 2010
Man Sentenced to 90 Lashes, Prison for Kissing Woman in Mall
Iran sets aside $1.5 billion to enforce ban on loud laughter, nail polish, high heels and immodest clothing, in accord with "Islamic values"
Posted by Britannia Radio at 21:51