RIYADH, 12 February 2004 — Two members of the Commission for the Promotion of Virtue and Prevention of Vice were hospitalized with stab wounds after an assault in Al-Aflaj near Riyadh on Tuesday.
The assault occurred as a man and his wife were traveling together by car. The driver saw a vehicle belonging to the commission behind him and felt that it was following him. He stopped and accused the two commission members of stalking him which they denied, explaining they were doing a routine patrol. The man refused to accept their story and prevented them from leaving as he phoned his father.
When the father arrived, an argument followed and he stabbed the two commission members who were then rushed to the hospital. “They have been released from the hospital and are now resting,” said a member of the commission.
A telephone call to the headquarters of the commission in Jeddah revealed that the commission’s employees receive no self-defense training as they are usually accompanied by police. In this incident, however, no police were present.
Members of the commission did, however, recently undergo training in order to teach them how to interact more politely with members of the public.
Many people Arab News spoke to about this incident were surprised at the attack. One, however, told Arab News, “People are not exactly aware of what the commission is supposed to do. There is confusion as to how much power they have. It is hard to find out exactly what they are allowed to do. Where are the lines drawn? Without answers to these questions, misunderstanding about them will remain.”
Gihan Abdul Aziz, 37, a businesswoman from Riyadh, said: “The father should think of the consequences. The penalty for murder is death. It is a good thing the two men didn’t die.”
