Saudi Arabia beheads man convicted of murder

Saudi Arabia beheads man convicted of murder

www.jpost.com

Saudi authorities have beheaded a Saudi man convicted of fatally shooting a fellow citizen over a dispute.

Jamal al-Shammari was executed in the northern city of Hayel after being convicted of murdering Mitaab al-Ghaithi, the Interior Ministry says in a statement without explaining the nature of the dispute.

Saudi Arabia follows a strict interpretation of Islam under which people convicted of murder, drug trafficking, rape and armed robbery can be executed, usually with a sword.

Sunday's beheading brings to 8 the number of beheadings in the kingdom this year, according to an Associated Press count. In 2008, 102 people were beheaded.

(visit the link for the full news article)

Hmm.. only 8 so far this year?
I would guess this tactic works fairly well at keeping these type of offenses to a minimum.
I've heard of this before just thought I would pass the information on to those that haven't.
What are your thoughts on this practice?
Do any of you think this would be a solution to America's crime problem?


www.jpost.com
(visit the link for the full news article)

What is a sword to Saudi Arabia could be a guillotine to America. Both are swift and hopefully painless. Plus, it would solve the over-crowding in jails and save the governing bodies lots of money just to try, convict and sentence the useless, bottom feeders.

HOWEVER, it would mean countless innocents put to death (after the fact).

Originally posted by pikypiky
What is a sword to Saudi Arabia could be a guillotine to America. Both are swift and hopefully painless. Plus, it would solve the over-crowding in jails and save the governing bodies lots of money just to try, convict and sentence the useless, bottom feeders.

HOWEVER, it would mean countless innocents put to death (after the fact).

Not as swift as the guillotine by any means. Usually the executioner has to at least swing twice to completely sever the head. That first blow wont be painless.

I could post a video of such an execution, but its too graphic and would give you nightmares seeing it.

The guillotine however, is swift, one chop and drop method. As to it being painless....I wont volunteer to find out.


Cheers!!!!

[edit on 1-2-2009 by RFBurns]

Indeed it would help.

Many Countries with harsh punishment are much safer and more crime free than those, like us, that penalise pot posession almost as if a capital offense.

Some don't use door locks and secure property. It's just not worth stealing to get a hand or head cut off.

A few swift limb removals or death sentences would make many think twice when determining the risk factor for most crime.

A good start would be the financial criminals.

Gather them up, have maybe a Superbowl half time show and make examples of them for those to come to contemplate.

Yes it is effective but would you want to live in a backward and barbaric culture like that? I support capital punishment but they go way too far in that part of the world, there is definitely something wrong with those people. I'll take my chances living in a culture like ours anyday.

Originally posted by RFBurns
Not as swift as the guillotine by any means. Usually the executioner has to at least swing twice to completely sever the head. That first blow wont be painless.

Oh, okay. That's not good then. Perhaps, they could stop using swords, then, or at least put the poor chaps in a deep sleep or provide some sort of pain free death.

[edit on 2009-2-01 by pikypiky]

Originally posted by imd12c4funn
A few swift limb removals or death sentences would make many think twice when determining the risk factor for most crime.

A good start would be the financial criminals.

Well, beheading might be too severe for those fat cats. And jail time won't work because they could buy themselves out somehow. But freezing their bank accounts do wonders.

You don't want to get accused of anything over there.

A guy I worked with that was stationed there was accused of stealing a necklace and they where going to chop off his hand.

Right before they did the shop owner showed up and said he found the necklace, it fell under a table. So at least they appear to be pretty straight forward there.

If your a foreigner and they have a beheading they will push you to the front of the crowd so you get ring side seats as a warning to not do anything stupid. Same guy told me about that.

That's the one part of Saudi law that I really, really like. And if it takes two swings, so what?

My first suggestion would be to get a heavier, two-handed sword, and swing away.

They don't mess around either. You don't see folks on a Saudi death row for years, and even decades.

Punishment is swift, and certain.

And so very productive.

Originally posted by pikypiky
Perhaps, they could stop using swords, then, or at least put the poor chaps in a deep sleep or provide some sort of pain free death.

Their method of execution is primative and quite barbaric. I agree, put them to death by lethal injection, which is painless and quick.

If I am not mistaken, we have a member here at ATS who is from Saudi. Maybe that member could provide some insight into this.


Cheers!!!!

The bigger question is do you trust your government with having the right to decide if you live or die.

Personally, I do not.

I know i'm gonna get my head cut of for this (metaphorically speaking of course) for saying this, but.....

Isn't it considered a respectable way of being executed in those parts of the world to get your head cut off??
Those guys who just got shot in Indonesia for bombing that night club on Bali wanted nothing more than that....

And if being strapped to an electric chair is any descend way to go?? I'd know what to pick if i had to choose!!

And saying that crime is way less because of punishments like these is also something i'd beg to differ. Seems to me if you are gonna do a crime (for what ever reason) and you know you could get a death penalty the stakes would be a lot higher and surrender is not an option. resulting in people trying to stay out of the hands of the law by any means.
Were i come from there is no death penalty but funny enough we don't have overpopulated prisons, mass murders, gang killings, etc. etc.

Don't get me wrong, to each his own and if these kind of punishments work in your country, i say Great!!! (and sometimes i'd wish we had capital punishment) but sometimes i get the feeling it's counter-productive.

Here's on to think about :

The more laws there are, the more crime there is

oh boy, let the slaying begin.....

[pulls away his collar and places his head on the coppin block]

The ritual of sword beheading isn't going anywhere. These people are very ritualistic.

The trick to beheading with a sword is to at least sever the spine on the first hack. The person is most likely at the very least unconscious within a second, or unable to feel the second go. However, its not always possible to hit the same spot twice, which is why it can get ugly. I've heard it is fairly common for an executioner to accidentally hit the base of the skull on the first whack. Now, THAT could be horrifyingly painful, and messy.

This is about as surprising as finding out that Tesco value sausages have very little meat in them.

I am against capitol punishment ( getting rid of the 'evidence' so to speak) but these people are practiced and i don't see how you are going to feel the first ( without in a instant) or the second blow. These countries are not 'crime free' because of these methods of punishment but because of their culture/religious traditions.

Stellar

Originally posted by RFBurns

Originally posted by pikypiky
Perhaps, they could stop using swords, then, or at least put the poor chaps in a deep sleep or provide some sort of pain free death.

Their method of execution is primative and quite barbaric. I agree, put them to death by lethal injection, which is painless and quick.

If I am not mistaken, we have a member here at ATS who is from Saudi. Maybe that member could provide some insight into this.


Cheers!!!!

yea because the murderers did not put their victims through any pain when they murdered them right?

give me a break. these people deserve pain just so they can feel how alive they really are

Saudi Arabia has done this forever.
Public executions would help, indeed.
I think that capitol punishment is an awesome idea. We should do it more. It costs over a million dollars a year to keep ONE inmate in a state penitentiary.

Give me a million dollars a year for food, housing, clothing, healthcare, and I'll stop complaining.

I read years ago that while the executions by the guillotine were occurring in France, that medical doctors took that opportunity to study the effects on consciousness.

Think about it. Unless the body has received a serious shock to the nervous system, the head has blood and oxygen in it. It has full faculties for moments past its separation from the body.

These doctors would grab up a head after it had been lopped off, and timing the duration, would document for how long a head would respond to the doctors yelling their name.

One of the guys, a bluebeard, or blackbeard, continued to respond almost eight minutes later.

So when that person has their head lopped off, they know exactly when it happened, and have their vision, hearing, and awareness for an average of a minute and a half or so.

Smashing their head with a large mallet would be more humane. You want it fast and complete, put their head under a pile driver.

Done deal.

Originally posted by dooper
I read years ago that while the executions by the guillotine were occurring in France, that medical doctors took that opportunity to study the effects on consciousness.

Think about it. Unless the body has received a serious shock to the nervous system, the head has blood and oxygen in it. It has full faculties for moments past its separation from the body.

These doctors would grab up a head after it had been lopped off, and timing the duration, would document for how long a head would respond to the doctors yelling their name.

One of the guys, a bluebeard, or blackbeard, continued to respond almost eight minutes later.

So when that person has their head lopped off, they know exactly when it happened, and have their vision, hearing, and awareness for an average of a minute and a half or so.

Smashing their head with a large mallet would be more humane. You want it fast and complete, put their head under a pile driver.

Done deal.

im sorry do you have a link to that information? i just cant believe someone can stay alive for some minutes later. you would have heard about this in history books or something.