a court in Medina sentenced a Lebanese man to death for the undefined crime of practicing

a court in Medina sentenced a Lebanese man to death for the undefined crime of practicing “sorcery” and “witchcraft”. Ali Hussain Sibat, a 47year-old psychic who made predictions on a satellite TV channel from his home in Beirut, was arrested by religious police in the holy city of Madinah during a pilgrimage in May 2008. The man was caught in a hotel room with herbs, talismans, and some papers with strange drawings and writings. According to Sibat’s supporters in Lebanon, he was denied a lawyer at his trial and “tricked” into making a confession. Sibat’s Lebanese lawyer, May al-Khansa, stated that the television psychic was told he would be deported to Lebanon if he confessed to witchcraft. Instead, Saudi lawyers used Sibat’s confession as proof he deserved the death penalty. To be definitive, the court sentence must obtain the approval of the the Court of Cassations.
Sibat’s case is not unique. Dozens of people are arrested each year on charges like witchcraft, recourse to supernatural beings, black magic and fortune telling. These practices are considered polytheistic and severely punished according to Sharia rules. According to Saudi media, in addition to Sibat, Saudi religious police have arrested at least two others for witchcraft in October alone. Human Rights Watch (HRW) complained in a report about the increasing use of charges of 'witchcraft,' crimes that are vaguely defined and arbitrarily used, to arbitrarily arrest and detain people across the kingdom. HRW’s report also mentioned the case of Mustafa Ibrahim, an Egyptian pharmacist who was executed on November 2, 2007 for sorcery, which he allegedly used to break up a married couple. According to the London-based Amnesty International, two men are sitting in death row in Saudi Arabia on charges relating to sorcery: Ali Hussain Sibat and another man who was sentenced to death for apostasy on grounds relating to sorcery by a court in the city of Hail. According to Amnesty International, Saudi authorities have arrested scores of people for "sorcery" in 2009. The European Union has voiced concern over reports of death sentences in Saudi Arabia on charges relating to sorcery. The alleged activities cannot be punishable by law, since they would simply correspond to individuals exercising their freedom of opinion and expression, the Swedish Presidency of the EU said in a statement.