Saudi Arabia has abolished flogging as a form of judicial punishment, the supreme court announced, hailing the latest in a series of “human rights advances” made by the king and his powerful son.
Court-ordered floggings in Saudi Arabia, sometimes extending to hundreds of lashes, have long drawn condemnation from human rights groups.
The headline legal reforms overseen by Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman have brought no let-up in the conservative Islamic kingdom’s crushing of dissent, including through the use of the death penalty.
The Saudi supreme court said the latest reform was intended to bring the kingdom into line with international human rights norms against corporal punishment.
In the future, judges will have to choose between fines and/or jail sentences, or non-custodial alternatives like community service, the court said in a statement seen by AFP today.