Archive | December, 2011

It began with the trial and execution of an eight-year-old girl for witchcraft in the spring of 1630. Compelled to name others involved in an alleged nighttime dance with the devil in the town of Oberkirchen, the confession of young Christine Teipel sparked a wave of fingerpointing and subsequent trials. Within just three months, 58 people, [...]

RIYADH, Saudi Arabia — Saudi authorities have executed a woman who had been convicted of practicing magic and sorcery. The Saudi Interior Ministry says in a statement the execution took place Monday, but gave no details on the woman’s crime. The London-based al-Hayat daily, however, quoted Abdullah al-Mohsen, chief of the religious police who arrested [...]