The Los Angeles Times reported last week that in Jidda, Saudi Arabia, a Turkish barber who cuts hair in the city has been in jail for 13 months for using a profanity that takes God's name in vain. Sabri Bogday cursed during an argument with a neighbor. The neighbor reported Bogday to the police. While Turkey's president Abdullah Gul has sought Bogday's release, some Saudi judges consider his offense to be heresy and infidelity, punishable by death. Other judges however treat this merely as disbelief which allows the offender to obtain release by retracting what he has said and repenting.
UPDATE: A different Turkish barber, Ersin Taze, who was arrested by Saudi authorities over a month ago for slandering the Prophet Muhammad, has been released. M&C (June 5) reports that the Turkish Ambassador to Saudi Arabia Naci Koru, said that a Saudi court dismissed the case for lack of evidence.
