The High Court in Tabuk has rejected the demand of a plaintiff to hand down paralysis punishment to an attacker who left him paralyzed in a fight, sources told Okaz/Saudi Gazette. Abdul Aziz Al-Mutairi, 22, wanted to have the spinal cord of the unidentified attacker damaged to leave him paralyzed. Al-Mutairi also had one leg amputated as a result of the incident two-and-a-half years ago in which he was attacked with a cleaver. The assailant was released after he spent seven months in prison. “The verdict was issued rejecting the case filed by Abdul Aziz Al-Mutairi demanding like-for-like (Qisas) punishment of the perpetrator,” a source said of the matter, which has received international attention and pleas that the surgery not be performed. “The court verdict was based on a medical report the court received from King Faisal Specialist Hospital in Riyadh saying it is impossible to conduct such an operation.” The injured man was told by the High Court to accept the Shariah right, which is payment of blood money, but he objected. The case was referred to the Court of Appeals for final verdict and its reply is awaited, court sources said. Saud Bin Sulaiman Al-Yusuf, president of Tabuk Region Courts, said the case has been delayed because of Al-Mutairi's demand for paralysis punishment. Al-Mutairi has said experts at King Khaled Hospital, which is located in Tabuk, told him that it is possible to perform the surgery. King Khaled Hospital, however, said the operation can be done, but it would have to be performed at a specialist hospital. Muhammad Al-Jad'an, a judge at the High Court, told Okaz/Saudi Gazette that officials wrote King Faisal Specialist Hospital in Riyadh to learn if it would be possible to operate on the assailant to sever his spinal cord and they said it could not be don. The hospital said “inflicting such harm is not possible,” apparently refusing on ethical grounds.
