JEDDAH, 6 April 2008 — The first ever case to be filed by a Saudi woman against the Commission for the Promotion of Virtue and Prevention of Vice was postponed once again yesterday at the request of the woman’s lawyer.
Abdul Rahman Al-Lahem, the lawyer representing the woman known as Umm Faisal, said he requested the postponement, as he was feeling unwell. The case has now been scheduled to be heard on May 4.
Umm Faisal is claiming “psychological, physical and material damage” after being arrested with her daughter by members of the commission while waiting for their car outside a Riyadh shopping mall in 2004.
The two women, who were accused of not conforming to norms of decency, were made to sit in a commission vehicle and prevented from contacting their family. While being driven to a commission center, the vehicle broke down and the two women were left “in a state of panic and horror” on the road, said Al-Lahem.
It was only when passersby stopped and helped them that the women were able to contact their relatives.
During a previous hearing in February, the commission’s Riyadh branch submitted its first official response to the case, saying it could not be held accountable for the “personal mistakes” of its members.
