SAUDI ARABIA: ABU KAB GIVEN 20 YEARS, LASHES

February 2, 2009: at a court in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, the death sentence of Faisal Al-Otaibi, alias Abu Kab, was overturned. Judge Muhammad Amin Mirdad sentenced him to 3,000 lashes, 20 years in prison and a lifetime ban on driving.
Al-Otaibi, a Saudi Arabian naval officer, was found guilty of causing the death of three boys in a stunt-driving accident in 2005.
The case pitted the Court of Cassation against a local Jeddah Summary Court, who sentenced Al-Otaibi to death. The Cassation Court stood by its belief that the death penalty was too strong a punishment for a case of negligence.
The Cassation Court must approve death sentences, and its lack of endorsement blocked the execution. The victims' family vowed to continue to fight the decision. (Sources: Arab News, 03/02/2009)