Saudi judges in many parts of the country have started issuing such punishments after a royal decree was issued two years ago encouraging them to apply punishments other than imprisonment.

Alternative punishments include fines, community work, lashes, control on freedom of movement, confiscation of property and preventing people from doing certain things like visiting sports clubs.

Last week, Judge Abdullah Al-Odaibi of Badr, 150 km west of Madinah, ordered a man who was convicted of sexually harassing a young woman to trim trees and plants along public streets.

The man was sentenced to trim trees for a month (three hours a day) along with municipality workers. This is the second such punishment issued by a court in Badr in less than two months.

The same court had earlier sentenced a Saudi youth to make calls for prayer (adhan) for a month at a mosque in the city and memorize a part of the holy Qur’an.

Judge Faisal Al-Nasser of Turaif sentenced a Saudi student at an intermediate school to wear the shumagh (head dress) throughout the academic year inside school as a punishment for fighting with a fellow student.

A Turaif court sentenced another youth to distribute 300 cassettes on the dangerous effects of drugs after being convicted of drug abuse. Yasser Al-Balawi, a judge at a court at Samita, expelled a young man from his house for abusing his parents.

A judge in Qatif ordered an electrician in his 30s to work for the municipality for a month for destroying signboards after fighting with his wife. In many other cases, judges have asked culprits to pay fines instead of sending them to jail.

Hamad bin Abdullah Khunain, a legal consultant, described alternative punishments as the best way to help people mend their ways and become better citizens. He said punishments such as fines and social services could be applied for crimes such as bribery, fraud, bounced checks and traffic violations.

Other punishments include cleaning mosques, providing assistance to hospital patients and elderly people, purchasing things required by the elderly and assisting them in hospitals, and taking care of public gardens and parks.

Khunain suggested the prospect of applying electronic tags that limit convicts from moving around while allowing them to go to work. “Another form of punishment for people involved in corruption is confiscation of property. Banning a person from visiting a fitness club for a specific period is another mode of punishment. Punishment for traffic violators could include preventing them from driving for a certain period,” he said.