Gulf | Saudi Arabia
Religious police on trial in Saudi
Three members of Saudi Arabia's powerful religious police were to go on trial on Saturday for their alleged involvement in the death of a Saudi man they arrested for being alone with a woman who was not a relative - an act considered an offence in the kingdom.
- Agencies
- Published: 15:32 June 23, 2007
Riyadh: Three members of Saudi Arabia's powerful religious police were to go on trial on Saturday for their alleged involvement in the death of a Saudi man they arrested for being alone with a woman who was not a relative - an act considered an offence in the kingdom.
The landmark trial is the first of its kind in Saudi and was to begin in the northern city of Tabuk, close to the Iraqi border.
The case involves the death of Ahmed Al Bulaiwi, a retired border patrol guard who died in the commission's custody shortly after he was arrested in Tabuk by the religious police.
The police became suspicious after they observed a woman getting into his car at an amusement park, according to accounts published by the local media. Under strict segregation rules, a woman can only go out in public with her father, brother, son or husband.
An investigation showed that Al Bulaiwi, who supplemented his pension by working as a driver, was asked by the family of the woman, who was in her 50s, to drive her home.
A statement issued by the governorate of Tabuk after Al Bulaiwi's arrest on June 1 said that he had died as a result of a severe drop in blood pressure and failure of the respiratory system.
However, the statement, carried by the official Saudi Press Agency, also said that several muttawa members would be referred to the General Investigation and Prosecution Authority.
The trial is seen as a major setback for the Commission for the Propagation of Virtue and the Prevention of Vice, a government body that employs the religious police.
Informally known as the muttawa, the religious police enforce the kingdom's strict Islamic rules and lifestyle. They patrol public places to ensure that women are covered in the mandatory black abaya, that the sexes do not mix in public, that shops close five times a day for prayers and that the men go to the mosque and worship.
Another investigation is under way into a second fatal incident, in which Saudi national Sulaiman Al Huraisi died last month while in custody of the religious police who had raided his house in Riyadh because they suspected he had alcohol on the premises.
Al Lahem said witnesses reported that the muttawa beat Al Huraisi "severely" and that he was bleeding heavily when he was taken into their custody.
The deaths have sparked a public outcry against the religious police, with almost daily coverage of the murders in the kingdom's government-guided papers and commentaries urging the government to reform the commission.
In 2002, there was outrage after eyewitness accounts suggested the muttawa caused several deaths by stopping a group of schoolgirls from fleeing a school fire because they were not covered in the mandatory black cloaks.
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