JEDDAH, 12 May 2008 — A Saudi man in Jizan was sentenced to five months in prison and 150 lashes by a court for providing false information to security authorities, the Al-Madinah daily reported yesterday.
The man’s plan was simple: Provide false information about terrorist activity to the Interior Ministry and get a financial reward.
The Interior Ministry offers rewards for information that leads to the arrest of a wanted terrorist or foils a terrorist attack.
There is a reward of SR1 million for any information leading to the arrest of any wanted terrorists. The reward increases to SR5 million if more than one fugitive is arrested and to SR7 million if the information leads to stopping terrorist operation.
The man told security officials in Jizan that he and some of his friends had overheard a terrorist who was planning to bomb a vital security institution in the region and even provided the names of some of the witnesses.
But when security officials called the alleged witnesses, they denied any knowledge of the terrorist attack and said the man had told them to lie.
The man was charged with lying to security authorities and according to the Arabic daily, he admitted in front of the court that he gave the false information to win a reward.
