An elderly woman had to be carried in a plastic chair to the fifth floor to see the judge of the general court in Samita because there were no elevators in the building.

Children and eyewitnesses considered the situation below the dignity for the elderly woman, saying that the judge should have gone down to the first floor to take her statement instead.

Mohammad Mahjari said the building doesn’t have elevators, which put the woman in an embarrassing situation especially since she was forced to go to the fifth floor.

Eyewitness Ahmad Daghairi said one of the security guards told them to take the woman up to the judge, forcing them to carry her on a plastic chair, with the help of bystanders. He was surprised because they didn’t take into account the health condition of the woman, an old widow.

The general supervisor of the Human Rights Commission in Jazan, Ahmad Al-Bahkali, said the commission is following up on the case because it is a humanitarian issue.

“The Ministry of Justice should house courts in government buildings that are accessible to elderly and disabled people,” he said. He added that the commission often discusses these matters with government officials.

Director of information and publishing in the Ministry of Justice Ibrahim Al-Tayyar said the elderly woman had a document in the general court in Samita governorate, and she had come to the court before. He said that the judge had come down to finalize her documents on an earlier occasion.