JEDDAH: The Commission for the Promotion of Virtue and the Prevention of Vice (Haia) has appointed a new person in charge of its office in Taif after a poetry event was allegedly disrupted by its members in the city last Monday.

Abdullah Al-Asmari has been relieved of the position and moved to Makkah, with Yahya Al-Hazami appointed as the new head, according to a press report. Haia members had allegedly disrupted the event at the Literary Club in Taif, claiming that the organizers were allowing men and women to mix. Some Haia members also chased one of the organizers down the club’s corridors.

The organizers rejected accusations that they had allowed men and women to mix, saying the auditorium had separate entrances.

Abdul Rahman Al-Jaberi, spokesman of the Haia, said that an investigation has been launched into the incident. He said any violators would be punished.