MAKKAH: A procedural error by a judicial department at the Penal Court in Makkah caused a delay of 11 months in the release of a prison inmate who had finished serving his 180-day sentence, the Sabq news site reported.

The court ruled that the Justice Ministry pay the ex-prisoner SR250,000 ($66,660) in compensation for the physical and psychological damage endured as a result of the unlawful incarceration.

The ex-prisoner, who had been sentenced to six months in a drug-peddling case, filed a case against the Makkah Prisons Department.

The department’s representative proved in court hearings that it had not received an official release order from the Justice Ministry.