350 Lashes For Having Wine Bottles In His Car.

[D.B. Cooper]

I guess I wont be visiting Saudi Arabia anytime soon. 350 lashes for having bottles of wine in your car seem a bit harsh. (!)
Just last week I came home from Carrefour with 6 bottles. The things we take for granted.
I think I can cross Saudi Arabia off my places to visit list.

http://www.nytimes.c...g-article-click

 

[nicoenarg]

Alcohol is illegal according to shariah, the law enforced in Saudi Arabia. You'd think a guy who's lived in that hell hole for 25 years would know that.

As for visiting the place, don't worry, they don't even have tourist visas.

EDIT: Just to clarify, that culture and their laws are outright barbaric in my opinion. But I'm assuming the guy lived there out of his own free will and so would have known what possession of alcohol would mean if he got caught.

 

[chris]

Western expats routinely make wine and spirtits in their homes on compounds. The police seldom ever enter compounds. As long as it is discreet there is no trouble however this man was caught transporting alcohol outside his compound. Many things are tolerated in Saudi Arabia as long as they are not in public view.

 

[nicoenarg]

They're not "tolerated" in Saudi Arabia. The guards have to be paid to tip off the residents when the mutawwas (the Islamic police) and the regular police are on their way for inspections. People in the compound I lived in had spare bathrooms where they stored their home-made alcohol and where they also dumped everything when the guards tipped them off. However, I was in Riyadh which is more strict than Jeddah, but Jeddah is still part of Saudi Arabia and the same council of Mutawwas sets the rules there as in Riyadh.

At the end of the day you need to know how to live in a hell hole, if you don't then you shouldn't bother living there.

 

[irina]

http://www.dailymotion.com/video/x195hqd_banged-up-abroad-saudi-bootlegger_shortfilms

that's all this makes me think of...I think I'd take up teetotaling for my stay

 

[sleslie23]

I have a (female!) friend who just went to Saudi Arabia as the Argentine delegation for some conference. A single, female, non-Saudi visitor must be more rare than a unicorn.

 

[sleslie23]

I like beer, but I wouldn't go anywhere near it if I knew I would be whipped.

Or likewise, if I couldn't live without it, I wouldn't go anywhere near Saudi Arabia.

 

[nicoenarg]

I have a (female!) friend who just went to Saudi Arabia as the Argentine delegation for some conference. A single, female, non-Saudi visitor must be more rare than a unicorn.

LOL and slightly less free than a unicorn. If its for a conference then I would assume her trip to Saudi Arabia would consist of being driven from the airport to the hotel where the conference is being held, attend the conference, be driven back to the airport. If she's in Riyadh then she will not be allowed to leave the hotel on her own (she would also need the 'walking tent', otherwise known as 'burqa').

 

[sleslie23]

LOL and slightly less free than a unicorn. If its for a conference then I would assume her trip to Saudi Arabia would consist of being driven from the airport to the hotel where the conference is being held, attend the conference, be driven back to the airport. If she's in Riyadh then she will not be allowed to leave the hotel on her own (she would also need the 'walking tent', otherwise known as 'burqa').

Apparently, she was able to visit some castle-like structure in Riyadh. No burka, but definitely covered head-to-toe. I'm sure it was arranged and supervised.

I remember meeting two Saudi guys in Istanbul once. They were downing as much alcohol as the could swallow. I guess prohibition makes the forbidden fruit taste a little sweeter.

 

[nicoenarg]

Dubai, half the bars are filled with Saudis. Some years ago a couple of Saudis had so much to drink that they paid for the alcohol by selling their car. The Saudi embassy arranged for a flight back for them (probably ended up in jail if they weren't royals).