Saudi death sentence for crime of poetry changed to eight-year prison term & 800 lashes

[uhnope]

who says there's no progress?

Vid is about the death sentence, the recent news is here:

Palestinian poet Ashraf Fayadh's death sentence quashed by Saudi court
Panel of judges downgrades punishment for apostasy conviction to eight years in prison and 800 lashes

A Saudi court has overturned the death sentence of a Palestinian poet accused of renouncing Islam, imposing an eight-year prison term and 800 lashes instead. He must also repent through an announcement in official media.

The decision by a panel of judges came after Ashraf Fayadh’s lawyer argued his conviction was seriously flawed because he was denied a fair trial. In a briefing on the verdict, Abdulrahman al-Lahem said the judgment revoked the death sentence but upheld that the poet was guilty of apostasy.

http://www.theguardian.com/world/2016/feb/02/palestinian-poet-ashraf-fayadhs-death-sentence-overturned-by-saudi-court

[gyroscope]

1. "800 lashes"

sounds like a death sentence to me, and rather painful one at that.

their human rights abuses probably exceed that of China's, yet no US politician ever lectures the Saudi regime about human rights.