DAMMAM: Eastern Province Gov. Prince Muhammad bin Fahd on Saturday ordered the release of several teenagers who took part in a rampage of businesses in Alkhobar when a National Day rally on Sept. 23 turned violent.
The release comes in light of schools reopening on Saturday. The teenagers also expressed their sorrow for taking part in the incident and have agreed to pay for the damage they caused.
The governor had earlier instructed officials of government departments to look into the condition of detained youths.
Twenty teenagers involved in the rampage on the Alkhobar Corniche were flogged last week, with each receiving 30 lashes.
Eastern Province police spokesman Brig. Gen. Yousuf Al-Qahtani told Arab News that all of the rioting vandals who were flogged were Saudis and that four of them were below 18.
“These were the ones who confessed their roles in the riots,” Al-Qahtani said.
The vandalizing of restaurants, showrooms and shops during the rampage caused losses worth millions of riyals. Witnesses said the rioting started after one youth pointed at a fast-food chain, saying, “It’s a supporter of Israel.”
The youths then broke the windows of the restaurant before ransacking nearby showrooms and shops. Sources said the youths targeted mostly international chains.
Employees and guests at Pizza Hut on Alkhobar Corniche said the youths attacked the fast-food chain, broke windows and furniture, and took drinks from its refrigerator.
Starbucks, next to Pizza Hut, was also attacked and its windows were broken.
Prominent members of Saudi society by and large welcomed the lashings, but many of them suggested that more needs to be done to avoid a recurrence of such incidents.
