RIYADH, 3 July 2007 — Relatives of Salman Al-Huraisi — a Saudi man who was allegedly beaten to death by a member of the Commission for the Promotion of Virtue and Prevention of Vice last month in Riyadh — are likely to request Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Abdullah to order the release of the autopsy report on the victim.
Al-Huraisi’s house in the capital’s Al-Uraija district was raided in late May by commission members on suspicion that the property was being used to sell alcohol. Al-Huraisi died while in custody, allegedly the result of having been beaten fatally by officers of the commission. A statement from the Governorate of Riyadh confirmed that one member of the commission was responsible for the death.
According to the deceased family’s attorney, Maher Al-Hazmi, family members have decided to take this step after the General Investigation and Prosecution Authority (GIPA) refused to provide the family with the autopsy report on the victim’s body.
“This is our last resort,” Al-Hazmi told Arab News. “The situation has gotten out of hand. We are seeking King Abdullah’s intervention in the matter to solve it. They (the GIPA) told us that the report was classified. They said that if we wanted to bury the body we would be given a death certificate only.”
“We will not bury the body without obtaining a copy of the report,” he added. “They want us to bury the body without the report. The case would then be transferred to court without the body (showing evidence of physical abuse).” The attorney said that he believed that there were those in the GIPA who were mishandling the case. He also said that the GIPA only ordered a preliminary examination of the corpse and that it was pressured to perform a more thorough examination.
“The second autopsy was only requested by GIPA after it was proven that the first autopsy result was not sufficient,” he said.
Al-Hazmi mentioned that he was only given permission to read the final autopsy report without obtaining a copy.
“The autopsy report mentioned that there was a severe blow to the deceased’s body which was so powerful one of his eyes popped out,” he said. “It also mentioned that another strike on the skull resulted in a cut which was 6 cm deep and caused part of the brain to come out — it specifically emphasized that part of the brain came out.”
The lawyer said that the medical report clearly states that the victim had been beaten severely in various parts of his body and that it rules out that the injuries were a result of falling. The lawyer also claims that members of the commission had visited the family of the victim to persuade them to drop the charges and that they offered money.
“They came to the house and brought with them the head of the tribe to try to convince the father to drop the case,” he said.
“They told him to name a price he wanted to drop the case.”
This is not being viewed as a bribe attempt, but rather an out-of-court blood money settlement. If the lawyer’s claim were true, this would imply that certain commission members recognize fault in the case.
In the Kingdom, as a private right of the family of a deceased, and according to Shariah law, a family can drop execution charges against the assailant for blood money that is paid to them as compensation to his death. The lawyer said he advised the family not to accept any out-of-court deal by anyone trying to persuade them to drop the case.
The lawyer also mentioned that four other family members of the deceased, all being held on drug charges, were being pressured by the GIPA officials to drop charges.
“They (the GIPA) told them that if they (the family of the deceased) did not drop charges they would be jailed for up to 13 years on drug charges,” he said.
For his part, the father of the deceased has reportedly pledged not to succumb to pressure to drop the charges.
Some of the family members of the deceased had earlier filed an official complaint to the National Society for Human Rights about threats and pressures from GIPA officials to family members to drop charges during the investigation process. “The NSHR told us that they would take up the matter with the Interior Ministry,” said Al-Hazmi.
Meanwhile, the body of Al-Huraisi has remained in a morgue since May 24 in Al-Shumaisi hospital.
Second Hearing of Bulawi
Case Set for Today
The second hearing in another high-profile case against members of the commission is scheduled to take place today.
In that case, four commission members currently stand trial for their involvement in the death of Ahmed Al-Bulawi — a retired border patrol guard who was falsely arrested by commission members after a part-time member spotted him picking up a woman in his car near an amusement park. The man later collapsed and died at one of their centers.
An official medical report cleared commission members of any wrongdoing in the case. The report said that the man died of a heart attack due to medical conditions. The three judges in the case are expected to receive responses from the four defendants regarding the charges against them.
Family members are demanding the death penalty for those they believe are responsible for the death of their kin, based on the assumption that the commission had no right to detain him on so-called “illegal seclusion” charges. They claim the pensioner’s health was fine when he was apprehended but was returned to them in a body bag.
It was later determined that the woman he picked up, who was reportedly in her 50s, was a member of a family that Bulawi worked for part-time as a driver to help supplement his pension.
