Text Size
Print
Email
International News
- Text Size
- Print
- Email
Saudi Arabia woman, Shaima Jastaina, spared 10 lashes for driving
A woman in Saudi Arabia will be spared a whipping for driving a car, a member of the royal family says.
King Abdullah has "canceled" a judge's order that Shaima Jastaina get 10 lashes for violating the country's ban on female drivers, according to Princess Amira al-Taweel, wife of Saudi Prince Alwaleed bin Talal.
"Thank God, the lashing of Shaima is canceled," she wrote via Twitter. "Thanks to our beloved King. I'm sure all Saudi women will be so happy, I know I am."
She also wrote, "It is official, Prince Alwaleed just confirmed it to me."
Afterwards, the princess said she and the prince spoke with Jastaina, and quoted her as saying, "The King's orders washed the fears I lived with after this unjust sentence."
No government official has publicly corroborated the Princess' claim, however. One official told MSNBC that it was true, but spoke on the condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to talk to the media.
Prince Alwaleed, who had been fighting to stop the lashings, later told Forbes via text message, "I lobbied the government and the king all the way ... The reform path moves on, regardless of some voices here and there."
Jastaina, believed to be in her 30s, was sentenced to the whipping.
The order came just a day after Abdullah announced that women would be allowed to vote and hold elected office for the first time, starting in 2015.
Saudi Arabia is the only nation in the world to ban women from driving, whether they are Saudi or not. As a result, women rely on hired drivers, which can cost families hundreds of dollars a month.
2024 The Background Investigator. All Rights Reserved.