Daijiworld Media Network
Riyadh, Sep 29: Following a court's verdict of 10 lashes as sentence to a woman who exploited the driving ban, Saudi King Abdullah has overruled the court's decision, a Government official revealed.
The official, however, could not give away more information as he had revealed the bit on the condition of anonymity.
The woman, by the name, Shaima Jastaina was found guilty by the court for violating the driving ban. The court then sentenced her to 10 lashes. The verdict came just a day after King Abdullah assured the Saudi women to protect their rights and granted them the rights to participate in municipal elections effective from 2015. King Abdullah also promised to appoint women to a currently all-women advisory body known as 'Shura Council'.
Several women in Saudi got together to fight against the campaign in order to break the taboo of the highly conservative nation.
The ban is not followed based on written laws; rather it is rooted in traditional values and beliefs that hold that women, if given more freedom, are more vulnerable to sin.
Saudi Arabia is the only nation that bans women from driving.