Saudi Arabia `holds off on executing sorcerer`

Saudi Arabia has apparently decided to hold off on carrying out the execution of a Lebanese former TV presenter convicted of sorcery, a Lebanese minister and the man`s lawyer said on Thursday.

Beirut: Saudi Arabia has apparently decided to hold off on carrying out the execution of a Lebanese former TV presenter convicted of sorcery, a Lebanese minister and the man`s lawyer said on Thursday.

Ali Sabat`s "mother should rest assured tonight”, Lebanese Justice Minister Ibrahim Najjar said. "That is what I called his lawyer to say, and that is all that I can say.”

"If I didn`t have the necessary proof I wouldn`t have said that to her."

Sabat`s lawyer, May el-Khansa, who had earlier stated she had heard through unofficial channels that her client would be beheaded on Friday, said she was relieved by the latest developments.

Saudi officials have refused to comment on the matter.

Sabat was arrested in May 2008 by the religious police in the Saudi holy city of Medina, where he was on a pilgrimage.

Amnesty International says a court there charged the father of five with sorcery and sentenced him to death in 2009 after he made predictions on a Lebanese television programme that was broadcast in Saudi Arabia.

Najjar said Saudi authorities must realise the charges against Sabat are not dealt with in the same manner in other countries while stressing Lebanon`s respect for the kingdom`s sovereignty and sharia, or Islamic law.

Rape, murder, apostasy, armed robbery, drug trafficking and sorcery are among the crimes punishable by death in Saudi Arabia, which strictly applies a version of sharia.

PTI

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