Tobacco firms' absence in court 'unjustifiable'

Riyadh: The case filed earlier by the Saudi Ministry of Health against representatives of tobacco companies in the kingdom has been adjourned until October 31, the ministry's legal department's director Ebrahim Al Misaiteer announced.

In March the Saudi Health Minister Dr Hamad Bin Abdullah Al Manei announced the High Court in Riyadh had accepted it would review a lawsuit filed by his ministry against representatives of 14 tobacco-producing companies in the kingdom. The Saudi ministry is demanding 10 billion Saudi riyals (Dh10b) in compensation, saying the ministry has spent billions in treating smoking-related diseases. The Ministry is also asking for an additional yearly payment of 500 million Saudi riyals to be paid by the tobacco companies for the ongoing treatment of patients suffering from tobacco-related diseases.

A number of health ministry officials as well as the representative of the World Health Organisation (WHO) in the kingdom Dr Awad Abu Zaid came to attend the session.

Al Misaiteer told reporters that all concerned representatives from the Ministry of Health came to the court to attend the session, adding this indicates the ministry was keen to safeguard the safety of both citizens and expatriates. He pointed out that in the next session, the ministry would raise the ceiling of compensation it is demanding from tobacco companies.

However, he did not disclose how much the new package would be.

The WHO representative in Saudi Arabia criticised the absence of tobacco company representatives from the court session. He described this absence as "unjustifiable".

He noted that if representatives or agents of tobacco companies are right they should present their evidence in court. He said in the United States alone more than 12 million people have died between 1964 to 1999 because of smoking and that the cost of treating patients who have smoking-related diseases reached $175 billion (Dh642b) during the same period.