RIYADH, 24 June 2007 — Proceedings in the trial of three members of the Commission for the Promotion of Virtue and the Prevention of Vice in relation to the death of a Saudi man in their custody began in Tabuk yesterday.
According to Ouda Al-Bulawi, an attorney representing the deceased’s family, the head of the Shariah court was in the process of assigning the matter to a specific judge. “Once the court assigns a specific judge to handle the case, the trial will begin,” Al-Bulawi said.
The deceased, Ahmed Al-Bulawi, was apprehended by commission members after they observed a woman getting into his car at an amusement park. Both the man and woman were arrested on suspicion of being in a state of illegal seclusion (when a man is alone with a woman who is not a relative). After being taken to the commission center, the man collapsed and died.
An earlier statement from the Governorate of Tabuk said that medical reports showed the man died of natural causes. It was later proven that the man was not guilty of any wrongdoing when commission members discovered that he worked as a driver for the woman’s family.
Five members of the commission, including the commission head in Tabuk, Sheikh Suleiman Al-Anzi, and a Bangladeshi employee were investigated. Al-Anzi and the Bangladeshi were cleared of any wrongdoing but the other three men were transferred to the General Investigation and Prosecution Authority (GIPA) for violations committed during the detention.
Lawyer Al-Bulawi said it was difficult to say how long the trial would last, adding that it depended on evidence provided to the judge. He did not confirm reports in the media that the deceased’s family had demanded another autopsy be done on the body. “Some family members have not seen the medical report which was provided by the governorate.
The report will be presented in court. Once they look at it, they then can make a unanimous decision,” he said. He did stress, however, that the deceased’s family was demanding justice for alleged mistakes made by commission members. Court trials in Saudi Arabia can last several months. Trials are prolonged when some parties involved appeal to attend the proceedings. When some parties fail to appear as directed, the trial is further delayed.
In a related development, the deceased’s brother-in-law, Abdullah Abul Hadi, said he was disturbed by the fact that imams in several mosques in Tabuk on Friday discussed the trial during their weekly sermons. He said many of the imams had claimed the commission members were innocent even before the trial had begun. He asked authorities in the Ministry of Islamic Affairs, Endowments and Guidance to ban imams from making such statements during their sermons.
