The new price of being a Christian in Saudi Arabia? For one Lebanese man, it’s six years in jail and 300 lashes.
A Saudi Arabian court has sentenced a Lebanese Christian, as well as a Saudi Christian, to prison time and lashings as punishment for encouraging the conversion of a younger, female Saudi coworker. Following her conversion, the woman escaped Saudi Arabia to Sweden with the men’s help.
AsiaNews reports that the case arose last year after the men gave the woman religious books and later were arrested on charges of forced conversion.
The Lebanese man, who was “considered the organizer of the operation, was sentenced to six years in prison and 300 lashes. The Saudi was charged as an accomplice and sentenced to two years and 200 lashes. Both worked with the girl in an insurance company. The two have announced an appeal,” according to AsiaNews.
The woman’s identity still has not been released, and Reuters reports that she remains in Sweden, where she was granted religious asylum last year.
