RIYADH, Saudi Arabia, April 10 (UPI) -- A Saudi judge never considered paralysis as a punishment for man who paralyzed another man, Saudi Arabia's Ministry of Justice said.
The Saudi Gazette, an English-language newspaper, first reported last month a Saudi court was preparing to surgically paralyze Ali al-Khawahir as punishment if he couldn't come up with $266,000 to compensate his victim.
Al-Khawahir was 14 when he stabbed and paralyzed his best friend 10 years ago. He has been in prison ever since.
The justice ministry condemned the report as "untrue" in a series of tweets, CNN reported Wednesday.
"We hope that everyone attempts to verify the facts and be accurate," said the ministry.
Reports of the punishment led Amnesty International and the government of Britain to condemn the sentence as grotesque.
