Saudis Sentence Criminal to Be Paralyzed From the Waist Down, Brits Express Outrage

I knew sharia called for amputation and death-by-stoning as punishments for crimes. This is the first I've heard that turning someone into a paraplegic is an acceptable punishment, too:

Ali al-Khawahir, 24, will be forcibly paralysed unless he pays one million Saudi riyals (£177,000) in compensation to his childhood pal who he stabbed in the back.  

The punishment was branded “grotesque” by the Foreign Office (FCO) who demanded it not be carried out.  

Al-Khawahir, who has already served ten years in jail, was only 14 at the time of the stabbing but this is not taken into account under strict Islamic sharia law.  

An FCO spokesman said: “We are deeply concerned by reports that a Saudi Arabian court has sentenced a man to be paralysed in retribution for causing the paralysis of a friend when he was 14 years old.  

“We urge the Saudi authorities to ensure that this grotesque punishment is not carried out.  

 “Such practices are prohibited under international law and have no place in any society.”...