Saudi Arabia’s Supreme Court has announced that the kingdom has decided to abolish flogging as part of punishment.
As per a directive from the Supreme Court, flogging will be replaced by imprisonment or fines.
Human rights campaigners have maintained that Saudi Arabia has one of the worst records for human rights in the world, with freedom of expression severely curtailed.
Arrests in the kingdom have been arbitrary too. A Reuters report has quoted a document by the Supreme Court which reads, “The decision is an extension of the human rights reforms introduced under the direction of King Salman and the direct supervision of Crown Prince Mohammed Bin Salman”
The last time that flogging in Saudi Arabia hit the headlines was in 2015 when blogger Raif Badawi was subjected to the punishment was after he was convicted of cybercrime and insulting Islam.
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He had been due to receive 1,000 lashes in weekly beatings. However, reports that he nearly died due to the brutal beatings and global outrage put an end to part of his sentence.
The practice of flogging had been bad for Saudi Arabia's image. The Kingdom’s image had also come under the scanner when Washington Post columnist Jamal Khashoggi was mysteriously murdered at the Saudi Consulate in Turkey.
Now, it looks like the practice will be done away with entirely.
The last time the kingdom made changes was in September 2019, when it decided to offer tourist visas for the first tie. Post that, Saudi did away with segregated entrances for men and women at eateries and malls.
Saudi Arabia's de facto ruler, Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman has been trying to create a modern, liberal image of the Saudi society that has known to be largely conservative. He aims to project a business-friendly image.