If what the papers say is true, companies have now assumed the role of courts. It seems that they are now allowed to issue injunctions preventing people from leaving the country.
According to one report, the Saudi Telecom Company (STC) intends to ban anyone from leaving the Kingdom who has an unpaid telephone bill. The company says the ban only applies to those who owe more than SR10,000. Despite this claim, some citizens have alleged that they and the individuals under their sponsorship have been barred from traveling abroad for failure to pay a mere SR15.
From the legal perspective, STC is carrying on business like any grocery in town. Both are commercial entities seeking profit through the sale of goods or services. The relationship between any business entity and the public or the state is purely financial. If this is the case, what right does STC have to assume such a role?
Imagine if your local grocery prevented you from leaving the country because you had not paid them every halala you owed them or your bank insisted you pay your credit card bill in full. This does not even address the rights of the electric company, to say nothing of your friend who lent you SR20 and who will now not agree for you to leave the country without first paying him.
The Traffic Department, as we know, uses the same tactic; it prevents people from traveling and may even force them to cancel flights and remain in the country until all fines for traffic violations have been paid.
Preventing people from traveling for any reason, whether valid or not, is a serious matter and should not be treated so lightly. Denying people their freedom of movement must not be left in the hands of those who, because of the authority and power they possess, think they can exercise it at will.
In the modern state, there is a clear distinction between the state that represents the entire population of the country and business entities that represent only the interests of their owners. Businesses are banned from exploiting the authority of the state to serve their own interests or to take punitive measures against the public.
Business firms that enjoy preferential treatment or a monopoly, as in the case of STC, are prevented by law from disconnecting the service from customers unless there is a court order. Serving legal notice is to enable the customer to prepare a reply and file objections, if any, before a neutral body.
Banning people from traveling without a court ruling is a serious violation of the country’s basic law, which comes above all other laws. Only the state — and then through the legal system — has the right to mete out such punishment.
