Mother of Saudi man sentenced to crucifixion begs Obama to intervene

[snagglepuss]

Video at link



The mother of a Saudi protester sentenced to death by beheading and crucifixion has begged Barack Obama to intervene to save her son’s life.

In
snip

Asked how she was coping knowing that at any moment her son could be put to death following the Saudi supreme court’s rejection of his appeal, Ahmed said: “For other people every hour is composed of 60 minutes, but for me every hour is 60 beats of pain.”

She said her son had been detained sometime after joining Shia demonstrators in the eastern coastal city of Qatif seeking equal religious rights in the Sunni-majority country.


snip

Maya Foa, head of the death penalty team at Reprieve, said the US president needed to step in immediately. “Saudi Arabia’s planned executions of Ali al-Nimr and another juvenile, Dawoud al-Marhoon, have rightly caused a global outcry. But the response of the US – the Saudis’ closest ally – to these outrages has been woefully inadequate,” she said.



http://www.theguardian.com/world/2015/oct/14/mother-of-saudi-man-sentenced-to-crucifixion-begs-obama-to-intervene

[jaysunb]

1. I wonder, by what moral authority would any American

President have regarding the death penalty.

[Donald Ian Rankin]

3. Quite a lot.

It's not hypocritical to support killing adults convicted of murderer in a fair trial by lethal injection (although I don't), but to oppose killing juveniles convicted of political campaigning by a state-controlled court by lethal injection.

[jaysunb]

4. There have been teenagers and very young adults sentenced to death

right here in the USA.

[GummyBearz]

6. For political protest?

Or for taking another persons life?

[jaysunb]

7. Does it matterr ? n/t

[GummyBearz]

8. Yes

Can you answer the original question now?

[jaysunb]

11. The answer is no.

Does that make you feel better ?

[GummyBearz]

12. No

I am against the death penalty. I can see arguments made in favor of it by people who lost a loved one by a psychopath/murderer for no reason. But that gray area turns to very clear black and white when the death penalty is being applied to someone whose "crime" is political speech.

[StevieM]

14. Yes it matters IMO. I oppose the death penalty, but I see a big difference between executing

a murderer and executing someone for taking part in a political protest.

[Rex]

2. Sad thing is he could do that and it wouldn't make any difference at all.

The Saudis know they have America under their thumb.

[Octafish]

5. Heartbreaking. But, we need the oil.

I hope the President does intercede on the juvenile's behalf.

[Blue_Tires]

10. You know damned well that if PBO interceded

90% of this forum and the left blogosphere would be screaming "HYPOCRITE" because of drones or something...And if his treatment here would be that bad, we know the GOP would exploit the hell out of it...

Not only would a terse statement from Obama do nothing, it might make the situation worse -- The Saudis might just kill him out of spite, just to show that they can do what the fuck they want, regardless of what Washington/London/Paris think...

So to recap, Obama has minimal chance to save the prisoner's life, he would gain ZERO political capital at home, and he'd end up pissing off an unsavory but necessary ally...

[Blue_Tires]

9. I thought folks wanted us to leave well enough alone

and stay out of other people's business?

Why isn't she appealing to the Saudi Royal Family or Chase Utley or my dentist? They'd have about as much influence as PBO in this situation...

[Comrade Grumpy]

13. You're pissed off at this lady for asking Obama to help?

You know, not everything is about making Obama look good or bad.