Saudis Ask Obama to Free Compatriot Jailed for Abusing Indonesian Maid
September 01, 2010
A grab taken from a YouTube video showing conservative Saudi cleric Sheikh Salman al-Ouda pleading with US President Barack Obama to pardon Humaidan al-Turki, who was sentenced to 28 years in jail in Colorado for sexually abusing an Indonesian housemaid. (AFP Photo) Related articles
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393956Slavery and raping slaves is sanctioned under sharia law, that's why the Saudi's protest the decision.
“All of the Saudi people know [Humaidan] very well. He is a very straight person.” ...sounds like Saudi Arabia is merely just a village! A lot of money wasted, just to explain that a man has to sit in jail for the bad things he did (15 counts of enslaving and sexual abuse!) - but the actual reason seems to drop into the background with verbal suggestions that it was maybe just the anti Muslim atmosphere and that it could hurt bilateral relationships and so on and on!
I am convinced that if an early release would be granted (which I truly not hope!) he would be welcome as a hero in Riyad upon return into his home country, which, as many know does not care about the suffering of some "low-life, semi-slave" house maid, especially if she' not even Saudi!
There are horrific numbers of Indonesian house maids being ill treated, raped (with abandoned babies upon return to Indonesia) in their "holy" country!
President Obama, don't listen to the subtle threats of these morons, your justice system did right and this person does not deserve a pardon - 15 counts!!!
As an American I appreciate your interest in this. As a Democrat (a member of the president's political party)I very much doubt that you have anything to worry about. It is unthinkable that President Obama would release this man. He(Turki) is so utterly reprehensible to the values that most American's hold (starting with the idea that all persons have value and a right to liberty and freedom) that the backlash here to any pardon extended to the man would be utterly unimaginable to anyone who had never both lived in and understood our culture.
Thank you again for being concerned, and expressing your concerns.
Be well.
@Xildur...For once I do agree with you on this issue...And again the Conservatives are brainwashed, the rest don't care much about it because they are too busy making ends meet in their lives to notice anything out of the ordinary.
Actually most have shown a dislike that this country is shifting its culture toward Arabization. Some may not have voice the issue out loud afraid of being labeled ignorant and non Islamic...Sad but true.
@xildur- we want Islamic state named Chaliphate. we have no deal with authoritarian saudis. saudis authority is US's Henchmen. they are very savage upon dkwah carrier, notably Hezbut-Tahrir in a bid to defend their unpopular rule owner. some day, our dakwah, with saudis people support, would topple down these America's slave from their throne
Riyadh. A group of Saudis has launched a video plea to United States President Barack Obama to free a Saudi man sentenced to 28 years in jail in Colorado for abusing an Indonesian housemaid.
The five-minute video, in Arabic with English subtitles, was made public on Monday.
It features conservative and liberal Saudi figures asking Obama to pardon Humaidan al-Turki, who was convicted by a Colorado court in 2006 for imprisoning and sexually abusing the maid while he was a doctoral student.
They cite numerous pardons by Untied States presidents of men convicted of ostensibly more serious crimes, such as arms and drug smuggling.
“We, as the Saudi public, ask Obama to look at Humaidan al-Turki’s issue, using the same eyes” that previous presidents used in granting pardons, it says.
The campaign comes in the wake of a US Supreme Court rejection in April of Turki’s appeal.
The case and the stiff sentence angered many Saudis, who supported Turki’s argument that he was being victimized in the anti-Muslim atmosphere in the United States in the wake of the September 11, 2001 attacks.
But the Colorado appeals court and state supreme court rejected that, upholding the conviction on 15 counts of enslaving and not paying the maid and sexually abusing her.
Asim al-Ghamdi, one of the video’s makers, said they want to build a Saudi and pan-Arab campaign before directly approaching US officials.
“The first step is sharing it through the new media, like Facebook,” he said.
The video features Turki’s daughter, conservative cleric Sheikh Salman al-Ouda and progressive writer and journalist Turki al-Dhakil, among others.
In the 18 hours since the video was first made public on YouTube, it was viewed more than 100,000 times, Ghamdi said.
“All of the Saudi people know [Humaidan] very well. He is a very straight person.”
“We will not argue on whether he did this,” Ghamdi said of the charges on which he was convicted. “Even if he did all of these things, we think 28 years is too much.”
The case has been raised by Saudi officials in several exchanges with US counterparts, but to no avail.
Colorado Attorney General John Suthers travelled to Riyadh in December 2006 to explain the original convictions to Saudi officials.
A US embassy official in Riyadh referred queries on the case and the new video petition to the White House.
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