U.K. presta honras póstumas a um brutal ditador saudita, o qual decapitou mais gente que I.S.I.S..
An advisory posted on Gov.uk states, “It is with great regret that we learn of the death of the King Abdullah bin Abdulaziz, King of Saudi Arabia. It is requested that all flags be half-masted from 8am today until 8pm this evening.” Pictures soon emerged of the Union Jack flying at half mast over the Palace of Westminster, Buckingham Palace, Westminster Abbey and the Treasury. Condemnation of the decision to honor a dictator who has overseen more beheadings than ISIS was swift.
Despite being the figurehead for a regime with an atrocious human rights record and a despotic government that treats women as second class citizens, King Abdullah’s death was met with fawning tributes from world leaders such as David Cameron and former Prime Minister Tony Blair. Buckingham Palace also confirmed Prince Charles will fly to Jeddah to “pay his respects”. US officials including Barack Obama, John Kerry and Joe Biden all praised King Abdullah when the news of his death was announced yesterday. Last year the Saudi regime put into effect a new law which, “allows the kingdom to prosecute as a terrorist anyone who demands reform, exposes corruption or otherwise engages in dissent,” a provision that could be applied to female drivers. The horrific state of women’s rights in the oil rich kingdom is an issue that is habitually ignored by the establishment and the mainstream media, primarily so as not to put at risk the United States’ long-standing alliance with what is widely recognized as a theocratic dictatorship. Citizens who flout Saudi Arabia’s strict interpretation of Sharia law are also victimized on a regular basis, including blogger Raif Badawi who was recently sentenced to 1,000 lashes for the crime of “insulting Islam”. During King Abdullah’s reign, fifteen schoolgirls were also killed after religious police refused to let them leave a burning building because they were not in Islamic dress.
The King also infamously imprisoned his own daughters, Princesses Sahar, 42, and Jawaher, 38, who have been under house arrest for the last 13 years. Saudi troops have been used repeatedly to crush dissent and kill democracy activists in both Saudi Arabia and Bahrain. The sickening outpouring of tributes for King Abdullah once again underscores the fact that hypocritical western leaders are perfectly content to tolerate and praise dictatorships which show geopolitical fealty, while significantly milder regimes such such as Iran are continually demonized.
