A Saudi court has rejected a plea to sever a defendant’s spinal cord to cripple him as a punishment after he was indicted of causing paralysis to another man during a fight, the Saudi Okaz Arabic language daily reported on Tuesday.

The court in the northwestern province of Tabuk turned down the victim’s request after it was told by a hospital that such a penalty is medically not possible.

“The supreme court of Tabuk has refused to issue a verdict to cut the defendant’s spinal cord after it received a response from King Faisal Hospital that such an operation is not possible” the paper said.

It quoted judge Mohammed Al Jadaan as saying he had sent a letter to that hospital asking if such an operation is possible. “Their response was that it is not possible to perform such an operation from the medical point of view,” he said.

News that the court sought medical advice for such punishment last week caused concern by Amnesty International, which said such a sentence constitutes severe torture of the defendant.

The unidentified defendant hit Abdul Aziz Al Mutairi, another Saudi, with a cleaver during a fight more than two years ago and the trial has been delayed because Mutairi is insisting that his attacker suffer the same injury.

“The Court has sent several letters to hospitals in and outside the region asking doctors about the possibility of cutting the spinal cord of the defendant after he was indicted of causing paralysis to another man,” Okaz said last week.

It quoted the 22-year-old Mutairi as saying the defendant had confessed in court to hitting him with the cleaver during their fight in Tabuk.