JEDDAH — The Supreme Court has sentenced a Saudi man to 10 years in prison, 100 lashes and a SR1 million fine for defaming Islam and Islamic scholars on the Internet. A source from Jeddah Penal Court reported the case started two years ago when the man in his 20s developed a website called “The Saudi Liberal Network”, encouraging like-minded people to express their thoughts. The source said: “The website promoted anti-Islamic ideologies and offended high officials in the Commission for the Promotion of Virtue and Prevention of Vice. “Before running the website, the man shared his ideologies on his Facebook account.” The man was found guilty and given the same sentence as that issued by the Supreme Court. The penal court also said proceeds from the fine would go to charity organizations. The man has also been issued with a 10-year travel ban, his computer was seized and the website deactivated. “The penal court sentenced the man to 100 lashes, divided into 20 lashes a day. “The court said there should not be more than a week between each day where lashes are handed out.” He said the penal court found the man guilty of blasphemy and offending religion, disobeying his parents and being involved in a number of fraud and exploitation cases. “The man has previous criminal offenses involving business ventures. “One of his ventures was a women's center that had multiple violations and was later shut down.” He added that the man filed an appeal against the penal court's sentence and it took two years for the case to be processed through the Court of Appeals. “The supreme court received the case three months ago and approved the initial sentences, rejecting the man's appeal after several alterations and modifications to the case's original file,” said the source.
