Homaidan Al-Turki

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Homaidan Al-Turki, is a Saudi national who was convicted of crimes against an Indonesian woman who worked for him in his Aurora, Colorado home. His case has become something of a cause celebre in his home country, where the press portrayed him as a victim of bias against Muslims. Before his arrest, he was a bookstore owner and a graduate student in linguistics.

During the trial, the woman testified that the Al-Turki family had brought her to Colorado from Saudi Arabia, and that she lived with them in Aurora for four years during which she worked 7 days a week, was sexually abused by Al-Turki and had her $150 dollar a week salary and passport withheld by the family. She also testified that she was locked in an unheated basement and slept on a bare mattress when she was not working^[1]. During the trial Al-Turki said that, "The state has criminalized these basic Muslim [sic] behaviors. Attacking traditional Muslim behaviors was the focal point of the prosecution."^[2]. The state believed this was a case of human trafficking. Al-Turki was convicted of 12 counts of unlawful sexual contact with force, one count of theft of services over $15,000, false imprisonment and conspiracy. He was sentenced to 20 years to life in prison.

The case was a high profile one in Saudi Arabia, where the press portrayed him as a victim of bias against Muslims and said that he would not have been convicted in his own country. The Saudi government gave Al-Turki $400,000 to post bail. In November 2006, Colorado Attorney General John Suthers travelled to Saudi Arabia where he met with King Abdullah and Crown Prince Sultan to clear up "misperceptions" about the U.S. judicial system. His trip was sponsored by the US State Department. Al-Turki's wife, Sarah Khonaizan, who plead guilty to reduced state and federal charges, is to be deported from the US. ^[3] Following the state conviction, federal charges against Al-Turki were dropped. ^[4]