The United States President has expressed his dissatisfaction regarding the court decision reached in Saudi Arabia that sentenced the victim of a gang rape to 200 lashes and six months in prison.

In his speech held at the White House, George W. Bush also approached the issue from different perspective. He put himself in the place of the sentenced girl’s father and said that he would have been very disturbed in such a situation. Bush said that as a father he would have been very angry at those who committed the crime and at a state that, instead of supporting the victim in its rehabilitation, punishes her.

President Bush added that he hasn’t discussed the matter with Saudi King Abdullah, but that the king is aware of the U.S. position regarding this issue. “The King,” said Bush “knows our position loud and clear".

"My first thoughts were these: What happens if this happened to my daughter? How would I react? And I would have been ... I would have been very emotional, of course.

"I'd have been angry at those who committed the crime. And I would be angry at a state that didn't support the victim,” said President Bush during a White House press conference.

The case is absolutely shocking. The Shi'ite girl, 19, was sentenced last week accused of being in public with a man not related to her. The girl and her accompanying person were spotted by several men who kidnapped and raped both of them.

The girl’s original sentence was increased with 90 lashes because she had spoken to the media. According to the country’s Justice Ministry, the 19-year-old had confessed to having an extramarital affair last year, thus breaking the Islamic sharia law which says that women are forbidden to appear in public in the company of men other than their male relatives.

The rappers - seven men – were convicted of raping the woman and her male companion and received sentences from two to nine years in jail.

The incident occurred in the city of Qatif in March 2006. Then the woman was 18 and engaged to be married.

“From the onset, my wife was dealt with as a guilty person who committed a crime. She was not given any chance to prove her innocence or describe how she was a victim of multiple brutal rapes," said her husband for the CNN.