LETTER : Crime and Punishment: Islamic Law versus Western Values

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From Mr Bassam Alloni

Sir: The editorial in today's issue, "The Gulf widens over executions" (9 October), and your reporting of the controversy surrounding Filipino maids ("The maid on death row," 9 October) will do little to change the situation in the Gulf to which they refer. Islamic law and the judgments made under Islamic law cannot be compared with entirely culturally different Western values. By Western standards the executions in Saudi Arabia this year may seem shocking, but it must be realised that Saudi is an Islamic country, and as such cannot radically change its judicial system.

The workings and practices of courts in Islamic countries are so little …