Should Saudi Arabia chair UN human rights council?

THE sentence passed in Saudi Arabia of imprisonment and impending lashings of Karl Andree is barbaric — and utterly hypocritical. On a Thursday evening, at the start of their weekend, thousands of Saudis stream across to Bahrain to get drunk. How two-faced can you get? A Saudi diplomat recently went free having beaten, raped and starved his Nepalese maids in India. Has any sentence been passed on the woman who hacked off her maid’s arm when she asked for her wages? Isn’t it about time Saudi Arabia came out of the 12th century and into 2015?

JUDITH GIBBS, Paphos, Cyprus. I ExpEcT any immigrants who arrive in this country to be subject to this country’s laws. As a British citizen, if I’m found to be carrying a knife, I can be prosecuted and will get a criminal record. Why are we making such a fuss about a man with a car boot full of alcohol, which is against the law in Saudi Arabia? Twelve months in prison and 350 lashes as punishment, even if the lashes are only a token humiliating gesture, seems harsh, but if you’re in someone else’s house, you conduct yourself according to their rules.

BRIAN McAVOY, Thornton-Cleveleys, Lancs. MOST people who visit Saudi Arabia understand it has a zero tolerance of booze. So surely somebody who has lived there for 25 years should know the score. That said, I find it strange that Saudi Arabia is chairing the UN human rights council when they clearly haven’t a clue about such matters.

TED SHEPHERD, Windsor, Berks. THE big outcry over an elderly man receiving the punishment of a country whose laws he knowingly broke seems rather hypocritical when some people in this country are falling over themselves to get elderly politicians, celebrities and journalists put in prison on little or no evidence.

PAUL MORLEY, Skipton, North Yorks.