JEDDAH, 22 November 2003 — A court in Jeddah has sentenced seven individuals who participated in recent protests and obstructed security men from doing their job to jail terms ranging from one month to three months.
They have also been ordered to sign an agreement that they would never again engage in the same offense. The court refused a request by the prosecuting attorney for a more severe sentence.
Five of the seven confessed to participating in one way or another in the protest; they expressed their regret and assured the authorities they did not wish to provoke chaos and damage public welfare.
This resulted in a jail sentence of one month for the five.
The other accused, a Saudi and Sudanese, were sentenced to two and three months in prison respectively, with the Saudi being sentenced to an additional 60 lashes for not confessing nor acknowledging that he had done any damage to public welfare. The Sudanese will be deported after serving his jail term.
