A man in Saudi Arabia is awaiting his punishment for a crime that left his victim in a wheelchair. Yahoo UK reported late on Wednesday, April 3, 2013, that the man has actually been sentenced to paralysis for his crimes.
At the age of 14, Ali al Kwawaher stabbed his friend in the spine and it left him paralyzed from the waist down. This is according to Amnesty International.
The human-right group based out of London said that Khawaher has spent 10 years in jail awaiting to be paralyzed surgically. That is, of course, unless the family of the 24-year-old criminal pays one million Saudi riyals to the victim.
Saudi Arabia applies a form of Sharia law, which essentially is an eye-for-an-eye punishment for crimes. It allows victims to pardon convicts in exchange for so-called blood money.
According to Amnesty, the man could end up being paralyzed from the waist down if the sentence goes ahead as planned. The type of sentence in sharia law is called a "qisa," which means retribution.
The NGO has condemned the sentence and said it had only learned of the man's sentence recently. Ann Harrison, Amnesty's Middle East and North Africa Deputy Director, said:
"Paralyzing someone as punishment for a crime would be torture.
"That such a punishment might be implemented is utterly shocking, even in a context where flogging is frequently imposed as a punishment for some offences, as happens in Saudi Arabia."
Khawaher's family has said that they don't have even a tenth of the sum needed to give to the victim to avoid him being sentenced to paralysis.
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