A teenage gang-rape victim in Saudi Arabia, sentenced to 200 lashes and a jail term for being alone with a man unrelated to her, has reportedly been pardoned by King Abdullah.

A Saudi newspaper said on Monday that the 19-year-old’s sentence and a six-month jail term had been quashed.

Abdullah bin Mohammed al-Sheikh, the Saudi justice minister, told Al Jazirah daily that the pardon does not mean the king doubted the country’s judges, but instead acted in the “interests of the people”…

…The victim’s husband welcomed the news, but said he had not been informed officially of the pardon decree.

“I am happy and my wife is happy and it will of course help lift some of her psychological and social suffering,” he told the Reuters news agency. “We thank the king for his generous attention and fatherly spirit.”

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