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Saudi Teacher Jailed for Praising Jews
A teacher in Saudi Arabia was sentenced to 40 months in jail and 750 lashes for discussing the Bible and praising Jews. Secondary school teacher Mohammed al-Harbi, who will be flogged in public, was taken to court by his colleagues and students, according to the Saudi newspaper Al-Madina. He was charged with promoting a "dubious ideology, mocking religion, saying the Jews were right, discussing the Gospel and preventing students from leaving class to wash for prayer,” the newspaper disclosed. Last week a U.S. State Department report criticized Saudi Arabia for its religious intolerance, saying religious freedoms "are denied to all but those who adhere to the state-sanctioned version of Sunni Islam.”
Story Continues Below The report cited the plight of another teacher brought up on charges: "During the period covered by this report, a schoolteacher was tried for apostasy, and eventually convicted in March of blasphemy; the person was given a prison sentence of three years and 300 lashes.” An earlier report by the U.S. Commission on Religious Freedom named Saudi Arabia as the world’s biggest violator of religious liberties, according to the Washington Times. In Saudi Arabia the public practice of any religion other than Islam is forbidden, only Muslims can be Saudi citizens and non-Muslims cannot enter Mecca, Islam’s holy city.
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