YANBU, 3 December 2007 — Six students and four government workers who were sentenced to jail for beating up teachers in a secondary school in Al-Mrameia, some 280 km from Yanbu last year have decided to appeal the sentence. The Court of Grievances in Madinah sentenced the 10 men to two years in prison and ordered each one of them to pay SR20,000 in fine.
Abdullah Al-Marwani, a relative of one of the students, said that they would retain a lawyer to file the appeal. A tribal leader in the village will pay for the lawyer to defend the students and the government workers.
One of the students sentenced to jail said that he objected to the decision saying that he did not attack the teachers. “I learned about the incident a day after it happened and I was accused,” he said.
An Education Ministry source said that the students would be allowed to continue their education through a prison program.
The attack against the teachers took place a year ago when scores of students and their relatives surrounded them inside the school, according to school officials.
They said that the relatives wanted the teachers to give the students better grades. When the teachers refused these demands they were attacked.
