year-old man was sentenced by a Taif court earlier this week to ten years in prison and 6,000 lashes of the whip for seven counts of theft. The man was found guilty of stealing a car and some sheep, as well as several bags of barley and copper cables from a truck. The accused described the sentence as “harsh” claiming that his confession was made under duress. The man's brother has called for the Court of Cassation to reconsider the case. “My brother made a forced confession after he was detained more than four months ago,” he said. “He was taken to three courts in the north of Taif. He denied committing the thefts and confessed in a court in the Turba district.”
