Saudi Supreme Court Reverses Death Sentence Imposed On TV Psychic For Sorcery

Amnesty International reports that last week Saudi Arabia's Supreme Court reversed a death sentence that had been imposed on Ali Hussain Sibat, a popular psychic who had appeared on the Lebanese satellite TV channel Sheherazade. Sibat was arrested last year by Saudi religious police while he was on the omra pilgrimage in Medina, and was charged with practicing sorcery. (See prior posting.) An appellate court had upheld the sentence, saying that Sibat's actions made him an "infidel". The Supreme Court said that the death penalty was not appropriate because there was no proof that others were harmed by his actions. The court remanded the case for retrial, saying the lower court should consider commuting the death sentence and deporting him to Lebanon at the end of his sentence.