An Islamist preacher accused of beating and torturing his 5-year-old daughter to death was sentenced Monday to eight years in prison and 600 lashes, according to an official with a government-backed human rights body.
A Saudi court in the town of Hawta found Fayhan al-Ghamdi guilty on Monday, Mohammed Almadi of Saudi Arabia's Human Rights Commission told CNN.
"The girl's mother ceded her original request to sentence the father to death," explained Almadi, who was in the courtroom when the verdict was issued. "She has since asked for the father to pay her blood money instead, which is her right in the Saudi legal system."
Al-Ghamdi's daughter, Lama, was admitted to King Saud Hospital in Riyadh in March 2012 after suffering extensive injuries, including broken ribs, a crushed skull, bruising and burns. Family, activists and officials say she died of her wounds in late October last year.
"My dear child is dead, and all I want now is justice so I can close my eyes and know she didn't die in vain," the mother, Syeda Mohammed Ali, told CNN in February. "She was brutally tortured in the most shocking ways."
Ali, who is divorced from al-Ghamdi, said Lama's torture occurred while she was staying with her father, adding that al-Ghamdi is now remarried with two more children.
Al-Ghamdi is an Islamist evangelist popular in Saudi Arabia for his televised appearances and for speaking on air about the rewards of repenting to God, Activists say
A Saudi court in the town of Hawta found Fayhan al-Ghamdi guilty on Monday, Mohammed Almadi of Saudi Arabia's Human Rights Commission told CNN.
"The girl's mother ceded her original request to sentence the father to death," explained Almadi, who was in the courtroom when the verdict was issued. "She has since asked for the father to pay her blood money instead, which is her right in the Saudi legal system."
Al-Ghamdi's daughter, Lama, was admitted to King Saud Hospital in Riyadh in March 2012 after suffering extensive injuries, including broken ribs, a crushed skull, bruising and burns. Family, activists and officials say she died of her wounds in late October last year.
"My dear child is dead, and all I want now is justice so I can close my eyes and know she didn't die in vain," the mother, Syeda Mohammed Ali, told CNN in February. "She was brutally tortured in the most shocking ways."
Ali, who is divorced from al-Ghamdi, said Lama's torture occurred while she was staying with her father, adding that al-Ghamdi is now remarried with two more children.
Al-Ghamdi is an Islamist evangelist popular in Saudi Arabia for his televised appearances and for speaking on air about the rewards of repenting to God, Activists say
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