Rights Group Trying To Save Saudi Woman Sentenced To Death For Witchcraft

Riyadh, Saudi Arabia (AHN) - Human Rights Watch has launched an appeal to the king of Saudi Arabia to save the life of a woman sentenced to death by beheading for being a witch after a man accused her of casting a spell on him that rendered him impotent.

According to the Human Rights Watch website, the group sent HRH King Abdull a letter on Wednesday appealing to him to stop the execution of Fawza Falih Muhammad Ali who is being held in the Quraiyat Prison.

The letter states that the woman has exhausted her court appeals and that the crime of "witchcraft" she was convicted of "is not defined by [Saudi] law."

It further states that the woman, who is illiterate, was coerced into signing a confession by fingerprint that was never read to her. Human Rights Watch also states that her trial was marred by procedural errors that made it impossible for her to effectively defend herself, that neither she was nor her representatives were permitted to attend most of her trial and that the trial failed to meet the standards of Saudi law.

The king is the only person who can vacate the sentence.