Saudi lawyer’s licence revoked for defending rape victim

Saudi officials have revoked the licence of human rights lawyer Abdul-Rahman al-Lahem...

Saudi officials have revoked the licence of human rights lawyer Abdul-Rahman al-Lahem who defended a gangrape victim sentenced to jail time and lashes.

Lahem faces a disciplinary hearing on December 5 to determine the length of his suspension. Lahem is accused by the prosecutor general of “belligerent behavior, talking to the media for the purpose of perturbing the judiciary, and hurting the country’s image”.

Lahem said losing his licence would be a blow to the country’s rights movement. “If I am banned from practicing law, nobody will dare go up against the judiciary,” he said. “If I win, it will open a new chapter for human rights in Saudi Arabia.”

Lahem’s licence was revoked last week by the judiciary in the eastern town of Qatif, where his client, a 20-year-old woman, was being sentenced on a morals charge after she was gangraped by seven men.

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