SAUDI ARABIA: COURT REPEALS DEATH SENTENCE FOR STUNT-DRIVING SAUDI

the Court of Cassation in Saudi Arabia repealed the death sentence issued by a Jeddah court against Faisal Al-Otaibi (aka “Abu Kab”, or “Father of the baseball cap,”) the joy rider who was convicted of killing three children who were in his car while he was performing a driving stunt that went wrong, the daily Al-Eqtisadiah reported. “The Court of Cassation was right to revoke the death sentence,” said Al-Otaibi’s lawyer, Khalid Abu Rashed. “They responded to my objection. We will follow up the case as soon as it reaches the Jeddah court.” The Cassation Court judges determined that the death sentence by the Jeddah court judges was too extreme for the crime. The case will now go back to the Jeddah court next week where the judges can dispute the Cassation Court’s decision. If that happens, the Cassation Court can request the three-judge panel of the Jeddah court be replaced with another to review the case and issue their decision. In its rebuttal, the Cassation Court said that one of the reasons for its decision was that the person in the vehicle that Al-Otaibi collided with in the accident, which occurred in Jeddah in 2005, was never questioned or asked to attend the trial. The case of “Abu Kab” has garnered considerable attention due to the severity of the punishment. In the past, joy riders who have caused fatal accidents through their stupidity in using public roads as their personal stunt-driving racetracks have been sentenced to months in prison and the payment of blood money to the bereaved families.