- JEDDAH: The National Society for Human Rights (NSHR) has taken up the case of an Egyptian doctor jailed for four months after being found guilty of fighting in a mosque with a Saudi man and thereby violating its sanctity.
- He is still behind bars while the Saudi, who was also jailed, has been pardoned.
The latter benefited from a royal pardon granted to prisoners on the return of Crown Prince Sultan to the Kingdom after convalescence abroad in December. The Egyptian was not included in the pardon because he appealed his sentence and his case file was with the Court of Appeals when the pardon was made rather than the relevant officials.
The Egyptian’s sister contacted the NSHR in Makkah to investigate the case. The society is considering calling on the authorities to include the doctor in the pardon.
Special committees were set up across the Kingdom to implement the royal pardon for prisoners other than those sentenced in criminal, security or drugs cases or those who were being held in private prosecutions. The pardon included men and women, adults and juveniles and Saudis as well as foreigners.
Director General of Prisons Maj. Gen. Dr. Ali bin Hussein Al-Harithy had confirmed to Arab News that whoever had a case before the courts when the royal pardon was made would be freed under it.
It is reported that some 10,000 prisoners benefited from the royal pardon.