The recent attack on a judge in northern Saudi Arabia calls upon us to do some serious, thought-provoking studies that will tell us not only what is going on but why and how.
Only a few months ago, a university student in Jeddah shot his teacher. Now this even more serious incident has occurred and the need for soul-searching is greater than ever.
Judge Abdul Rahman Al-Suhaibani is presently lying unconscious in hospital. He was shot in the head by an unknown assailant as he was driving his car; the car then crashed into a wall.
When judges are targeted like this, there must be reasons behind such a criminal act. Judges are humans and it is possible the crime could have been an act of revenge for some legal ruling which some considered unfair.
Judges are an integral part of society and whatever happens to them could also happen to any one of us. It is vitally important that any study conducted because of this incident determine whether it was an act of revenge or whether it grew out of circumstances totally outside the law courts. It is equally important that there be no question concerning the integrity of our judges.
What is more important is that we prevent, for any reason whatsoever, the recurrence of such horrible acts. If society suffers a deficiency, we must address it. If the shooting is the result of some human failure to address issues, we must attend to that as well. If, however, the issue has to do with outside influences targeting our country and its honorable symbols, we must put an end to it straight away.
We are facing a problem that should not be allowed to sink into oblivion or treated as some isolated individual case; we must delve closely into causes, motives and all related circumstances.
I wish the public could be kept informed of the results of these studies because that knowledge would bolster their confidence in judges, enabling them to confront head-on any social defects.
