Man Sentenced To Be Paralyzed + Student Holds Own Funeral

The Saudi government is sentencing a 24-year-old man to paralysis as retribution for stabbing his friend when the two were teens. Ali al-Khawahir reportedly stabbed his friend in the back when he was 14-years-old, paralyzing the teen from the waist down. In return, his victim wants one million Saudi riyals, the equivalent of $270,000, or retribution. Amnesty International is outraged by the sentence: �Paralyzing someone as punishment for a crime would be torture,� said Ann Harrison, Middle East and North Africa Deputy Director at Amnesty International. �That such a punishment might be implemented is utterly shocking, even in a context where flogging is frequently imposed as a punishment for some offences, as happens in Saudi Arabia.� Although al-Khawahir�s mother says she feels sorry for the victim and that he deserves millions in compensation, it is not something they can afford. �Ten years have passed with hundreds of sleepless nights. My hair has become grey at a young age because of my son�s problem,� she told the Saudi Gazette. �I have been frightened to death whenever I think about my son�s fate and that he will have to be paralyzed.� Retribution sentences have included eye-gouging, tooth extraction and death for murder, according to Amnesty. If the paralysis sentencing is carried through, it would go against the UN Convention against Torture, which Saudi Arabia is a part of.