The Washington Post reports:
I suppose it's not apparent to the Saudis how the only thing this pathetic threat does is further confirm the worst suspicions of its rapidly growing population of critics from around the world. Of course, it's not the first time these authoritarian monarchs have expressed a panic attack about Twitter.Authorities in Saudi Arabia have long been annoyed that everyone keeps suggesting they are anything like the Islamic State. Sure, they say, perhaps some of the laws on the books may look similar to the punishments in the extremist organization, but the Saudi kingdom is a sovereign state that abides by the rule of law and uses these punishments with discretion.
Now, reports in the Saudi press suggest that authorities have a new tactic for those who compare them to the Islamic State: taking them to court. According to a report in pro-government newspaper Al Riyadh, the Saudi justice ministry is planning to sue a Twitter user who suggested that a death sentence recently handed out to a Palestinian artist for apostasy was "ISIS-like."
"Questioning the fairness of the courts is to question the justice of the Kingdom and its judicial system based on Islamic law, which guarantees rights and ensures human dignity," a source in the justice ministry told the newspaper, according to a translation by Reuters. The ministry would not hesitate to sue "any media that slandered the religious judiciary of the Kingdom," the source added.
Recall the following post from 2013: Saudi Religious Police Chief Goes on the Attack...Against Twitter.
The best part about this latest Saudi stupidity is the fact that it's backfiring spectacularly, with a meme created on Twitter where users are begging the Saudis to sue them via the hashtag #SueMeSaudi. Simply brilliant.
As the Huffington Post reports:
People are inviting Saudi Arabia to sue them after the state reportedly threatened legal action against someone who compared its imminent execution of a Palestinian poet to the actions of Islamic State.Here are a couple examples:
The country's justice ministry would "sue the person who described ... the sentencing of a man to death for apostasy as being 'ISIS-like'," a source within the ministry told the pro-government newspaper Al-Riyadh.
Saudi Arabia, please sue me.I will be in Leb next week for extradition. "Saudi Arabia to sue anyone who compares their justice syst to Isis"
โ NassimNicholasTaleb (@nntaleb) November 26, 2015
Thugs till the end.Free speech and a choice of faith is a human right. #SueMeSaudi pic.twitter.com/scTwbqmvXT
โ Ajanta Deb Roy (@ajantadebroy) November 28, 2015
For related Saudi ISIS-like behavior, see:
Saudi Arabia Sentences Poet to Death for "Renouncing Islam"
So Who's Really Sponsoring ISIS? Turkey, Saudi Arabia, and Other U.S. "Allies"
Saudi Arabia Bombs Second Yemeni Wedding in a Week - At Least 23 Dead
Saudi Arabia Bombs Second Yemeni Wedding in a Week - At Least 23 Dead
Saudi Arabia Forces the UN to Drop Humanitarian Inquiry Into Yemen Atrocities
Not a Joke - Saudi Arabia Chosen to Head UN Human Rights Panel
Saudi Arabia Prepares to Execute Teenager via "Crucifixion" for Political Dissent
In Liberty,
Michael Krieger
Reader Comments
15 of the 19 hijackers on 9/11/01 were Saudi. There's your affirmative defense to any frivolous defamation claim made by the Saudis.
Baron please PLEASE brother.. don't even think of bombing the ROYAL Palace...Please these muslims are intelligent God fearing people. I don't want that HAREM damaged in any way.
Save the girls first please..!!!
I will give them asylum personally.
Oh..and get all the grogg out too otherwise wasting of that alcohol is a sin against Allah...
If you bomb you will miss out on all the vestal virgins when you die you evil EVIL man''
72 or 76 of them..I forgot now but 4 more or less wont matter I guess.
One has to admit that it is indeed difficult to distinguish the Saudi style of Government to what ISIS/ISIL is attempting to emulate. The only differential is that the whole world seems to think one is acceptable but the other is not. Such inconsistent logic is rampant these days where double standards seem to guide human behaviour.
Time to defend Saudi Arabia. If one looks at the picture which is fairly accurate, a number of things can be spotted that sets things apart:
1) First off the dress code: ISIS in black, the Sauds in white. Trick to help remember: Black/White thinking that goes with authoritarianism/fundamentalism.
2) Moving on to the instrument, ISIS uses a short blade, the Sauds a long blade.
3) Facial exposure: ISIS has the face covered, the Sauds not.
The Sauds are clearly insulted and rightfully so. They have a long tradition of lopping heads off and are pure professionals, which is why they don't cover their faces up when chopping (They are proud of it). ISIS on the other hand are amateurs and often have to resort to other weapons of execution.
So please offer a handkerchief next time you see a Saudi headchopper pouring his eyes out because somebody has compared him to an ISIS headchopper. The devil or in this case, the devils hide in the details.
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