SAUDI ARABIA: COURT UPHOLDS DEATH SENTENCE IN RAPE-MURDER

chief judge Suleiman Al-Dakhil of the Mecca High Court in Saudi Arabia sentenced an unidentified man to death for raping and murdering a Umm Al-Qura University lecturer, 38, in Mecca on March 13, 2009. A three-member bench at the General Court in Mecca had sentenced the killer to death by beheading and for his body to be put on public display. The public display aspect of the punishment was, however, withdrawn after the defendant raised an objection.