JEDDAH/DUBAI: Authorities in the Kingdom yesterday denied any knowledge of the reported arrest of a Saudi judge in Dubai last Friday on charges of possessing drugs.
“The Justice Ministry does not have any information about the report originally published in a UAE newspaper about the arrest of a Saudi judge by Dubai police,” the ministry said in a statement carried by the Saudi Press Agency yesterday.
The ministry, however, said it was following up the report with concern and had been contacting concerned departments to learn the real facts.
The Khaleej Times reported on Monday that Saudi judge Hamad Salim bin Naif and his 43-year-old Moroccan wife were arrested on Friday on charges of possessing and using drugs.
Al-Madinah newspaper yesterday quoted an unidentified source close to the Ministry of Justice, who said the story is a “fabrication” and a “sham.” “No such news reached the Ministry of Justice. Our judges are known for their integrity,” the source told the paper.
It also quoted a judge at the Summary Court in Riyadh as saying that he had no knowledge of a Shariah Court judge by the name Hamad Salim bin Naif.
However, Ameera Aqarib, the journalist at Khaleej Times who first broke the story, was sticking to her report. Aqarib, who was contacted by Al-Watan via telephone, said the judge appeared before the attorney general and his trial was to take place later this week.
Meanwhile, a source from Dubai police confirmed to Arab News that a Saudi national named Fahd bin Humoud bin Naif Al-Haqabani was arrested with his Morroccan wife in a Bur Dubai hotel on Friday and were charged with possessing and consuming narcotics.
“The man is in his 40s while the wife is her early 30s,” the source said.
Another police source confirmed that the accused worked as a judge in Saudi Arabia.
“The occupation on his passport shows that he was a judge,” the source told Arab News.
