Saudi Arabia government to behead man for practicing witchcraft

Ali Sibat was convicted of sorcery in Saudi Arabia after he appeared on TV and gave psychic advice and predictions. As punishment, the government is going to behead him.

From Jennifer Clark writing for The Examiner:

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This Lebanese "sorcerer" is a 49-year old married man with five children.  His job entailed appearing on a television show and offering psychic advice and predictions.  When Sibat was arrested, the Mutawa'een (religious police) instructed Sibat to write down what he did for a living claiming he would be released after doing so.  He apparently believed them.  His written description of his job was used as evidence against him — it became his confession to the sorcery charges.


His case in not unique. From The Telegraph:

Sibat is one of scores of people reported arrested every year in the kingdom for practicing sorcery, witchcraft, black magic and fortunetelling. The deeply religious authorities in Saudi consider these practices polytheism.

I have a psychic prediction of my own: We'll see comments that say "If he was a real psychic, he'd have seen this coming."

(Via Derren Brown)