RIYADH, 31 October 2007 — The trial of two members of the Commission for the Promotion of Virtue and Prevention of Vice, who have been charged with the murder of Salman Al-Huraisi during a commission raid looking for alcohol, began at the Higher Court in Riyadh yesterday.
The defendants were represented by a private lawyer hired by them. The trial began at 1 p.m. as the three judges presiding over the case arrived in court three-and-a-half hours late. The trial was originally scheduled to start at 9.30 a.m. Only the plaintiffs’ attorney, the two suspects and their attorney were allowed in.
According to Yahya Al-Huraisi, the attorney representing the Al-Huraisi family, the defense lawyer made it clear to the judges that he was a private lawyer and was not affiliated to the commission or any other government agency.
The hearing began with Yahya Al-Huraisi reading the charge sheet in which he mentioned the value of human life and how it was forbidden in Islam to kill an innocent person.
Al-Huraisi told the court that the two commission members had broken the law during the raid by not only beating Salman to death, but by also forcefully entering the house and arresting female members for suspicion, without the presence of women officers or female representatives.
“The authorities have held these two men responsible for his (Salman’s) death and according to the private rights of the family, we have made it clear to the three judges that we want both commission members to be executed,” the attorney told Arab News after the hearing.
He said the charge sheet contained a copy of the official autopsy report, which mentioned how Salman died as a result of a constant beating to his head and body.
The attorney said the two commission members were denied bail and were taken back to prison. The court then adjourned the trial and scheduled the next hearing for Tuesday, Nov. 6.
Al-Huraisi said he handed copies of the charge sheet to the defense lawyer and the judges. The defense lawyer will have the opportunity of looking at the points in the charge sheet and raise his objection.
A statement from the Governorate of Riyadh mentioned that the trial was just one of three cases currently in session regarding the death of Salman Al-Huraisi. There is another case about the “abuse of authority” by the commission currently being heard in the Court of Grievances in Riyadh. Commission officers who took part in the raid will be held accountable for violations that allegedly took place during the raid.
In a lower court in Riyadh, three relatives of the deceased are being tried in connection to possession of narcotics and alcohol that was found in the house during the raid. Over 18 commission members, not including police officers, took part in the raid on Al-Huraisi’s house in the Al-Uraija district of Riyadh late May.
The commission members, who swooped down from the roof into the house commando-style, broke doors and searched the house room-by-room for alcohol.
During the process, Salman was arrested, handcuffed and taken in a commission car. The commission members found several bottles of liquor as well as sachets of narcotics in the house. They arrested all members of the family, including male and female relatives living in other apartments in the building.
At the commission center, Salman was beaten until he stopped moving or breathing. He was pronounced dead by a medical team several hours later.
The autopsy report mentions that a heavy blow to his head was the cause of death. It said part of his brain came out and one of the eyes popped out as a result of the blow.
