Another Abused Saudi Woman- Samar Badawi-

I am not a parent but i know how important they are in our lives. 

I know how hard it is to be one and the sacrifices they made for their kids.

 Parents can be our heaven earth... 

but some are definitely are our hell.

no matter how bad your parent is , you owe it to him/her to treated them with respect ,

but that does not mean to be submissive, not to have "no rights" in the name of "he/she is /are my parent" . 

Not all parents are wise and God fearing creatures, so some of them can do you huge injustice. 

What shall you do in that case ? 

are you going to be silence and patient, waiting for things to change or he/she will reason or are you going to fight for your rights? 

It's easier to say be obedient, they know better. But sometimes they don't, as simple as that. 

The problem is when they don't listen to the sound of reason, too. 

Are we just going to complain and hate our parents when they are mean and bad and hope for better days or are we going to grasp onto the few rights we have. 

Parents don't "own" their kids. Parents love their kids by instinct, the first time a mother knows she is pregnant , the first time a father lay an eye on his new born baby . But that doesn't mean kids will fall in love necessarily for the same reason. 

Samar Badawi is another abused Saudi woman in the name of "he is your father","your father knows better", "you are all belong to your father" and a huge failing in the "judicial system " in Saudi Arabia. 

In short, Samar has been abused by her father since the death of her mother when Samar was only 14 years old. Samar was married and has a 7 year old son. 

Samar 's father kept interfering in her life and taking her money which lead to her divorce , she then moved to live with her brother. But that didn't stop her father who sued Samar and her brother . She was admitted into a safe house by authorities. Police have dropped all the charges against Samar which was filed by her father.

 She then filed a lawsuit to remove her father" guardianship" who is a an abuser, an addict and have been in jail before. Her grandfather and uncle have testified in her favor.

After staying a year and half in the safe house, she asked to move to a place of her own with her son with the approval of her brother and she was giving the permission to do so plus protection from her father.

Even the first judge was on her side. And her father was about to be punished . 

Things changed dramatically when her father has gone to the president of the court -who is known for being against the safe -sheltered-house- and filed another lawsuit against his daughter in the name of "impiety", "ingratitude" . 

Samar was asked by the president of the court to go back to her father which she refused explaining that she has another lawsuit against her father and a ruling has been issued against him but she doesn't want her father to be punished, she only wants her financial security and independence from her father. 

But the judge threatened her with lashing and prison. She had to go back to the safe house after her father continues harassment, she didn't attend two of the court hearings so the judge issued an order for her arrest based on being an "impiety" is a reason for arresting. 

She continue running away from her father who by then refuse to let her marry a man who proposed to her despite everyone's approval. 

She filed another lawsuit against her father's intransigence and refusing to let her marry , she attend the first hearing knowing that she might be arrested and she was indeed arrested and sent to jail. 

After three months , the judge in her latest lawsuit have issued a ruling in her favor and approved her father's intransigence in letting her marry again. All this time the judge who issued a ruling against her in the name of " impiety" and to be sent to prison refused to attend to her lawsuit, claiming that the papers are lost . 

There were attempts for reconciliation between her and her father which he refused demanding SR 200,000.

In Ramadan, Samar has called the president of the court asking about her staying in prison which he answer 

" are you obedient now, Do you know how strong we are ? " The Supreme Council of Magistracy are investigation the case. 

Samar is still in prison, have not seen her son for six and a half months , fighting for her rights against an abusive father despite all. 

This is Samar's official blog in Arabic:

 http://samarstory.wordpress.com/

Documents that proves her case:

http://samarstory.wordpress.com/othaiq/

 The Financial Times have written about her case here 

And more blogs have discussed her case :-

In English:- 

 Hala

Saudi to the Core

Ahmad

Sand Gets in my Eyes

Global voices

Hap Hazard

Naz

Human Rights Watch

Muslimah Media Watch

In Arabic:- 

وسيم 

جمعية الدفاع عن حقوق المرأة

سوزان المشهدي

فهد الحازمي

مكتوب

عقل ابراهيم الباهلي

صوت المرأة السعودية

حتات

هلا الغامدي

حلم سعودي