JEDDAH, 6 January — A summary court in Tabuk has sentenced a prisoner to an additional five months’ imprisonment and 200 lashes for inciting a jail riot.

The Court of Cassation in Makkah endorsed the verdict returned by the lower court after it was convinced that the charges brought against the accused had been proved beyond doubt.

The court ordered that the caning should be carried out in five weekly installments of 40 lashes each.

The prisoner, who had been serving a jail term in a Sakaka prison for a criminal offense, was convicted of illegal assembly, inciting other inmates to riot, setting jail furniture on fire and assaulting jail officials, according to the prosecution.

The public prosecutor said in a statement to the court that the police control room in Sakaka town received a call from the prison officials requesting reinforcements to restore calm after rioting prisoners set alight one of the jail’s warehouses.

The rioters smashed tables, shelves and beds in the warehouse, smashed windowpanes and torched part of the store, the statement said.

One of the prison guards testified that the prisoners had abused the prison director during his usual round. Another guard said one of the warehouses was torched, but the fire was put out immediately.

The prisoners later gathered inside the warehouse shouting slogans, locked themselves in and started destroying furniture and other articles, according to the charge sheet.

Another prison employee said when he tried to alert the guards about the fire he was beaten up by the prisoners. The prison employees, who had witnessed the destruction, identified the accused as the leader of the rioters.

On interrogation, 15 prisoners confessed that the accused had persuaded them to start rioting.

He urged them to gather and abuse the jail director, the public prosecutor added.

The accused pleaded not guilty to all the charges.

Abdullah ibn Isa Al-Ghaith, the Tabuk summary court judge, said the verdict was returned after a thorough examination of the investigation report and witnesses’ testimonies.

The judge added that the records of the accused showed that he had not been abiding by the jail regulations.

"All the evidence presented supported the public prosecutor’s arguments though the accused denied the charges both during the investigation and in the court," the judge said.