Members of feared Saudi religious police go on trial

Three members of Saudi Arabia’s powerful religious police were to go on trial today for their alleged involvement in the death of a Saudi man they arrested for being alone with a woman who was not a relative – an act considered an offense in the kingdom.

The landmark trial – the first of its kind in this conservative country – was to begin in the northern city of Tabuk, close to the Iraqi border.

The proceedings are seen as a major setback for the Commission for the Propagation of Virtue and the Prevention of Vice, a feared government body that employs the religious police which has long been resented for intimidating people and meddling into the most minute aspects of their lives.

The religious police, informally known as the muttawa, enforce the kingdom’s strict Islamic rules and lifestyle. They patrol public places, including malls, to ensure that women are covered in the mandatory black abaya, or cloak, that the sexes do not mix in public, that shops close five times a day for prayers and that the men go to the mosque and worship.

The muttawa don’t wear uniforms, but are recognisable by their long beards and their robes, shorter than the ones normally worn by Saudi men. They also shun the black cord that holds men’s headdress down.

Today’s case involves the death of Ahmed al-Bulaiwi, a retired border patrol guard who died in the commission’s custody shortly after he was arrested in Tabuk by the religious police.

The police became suspicious after they observed a woman getting into his car at an amusement park, according to accounts published by the local media. Under the kingdom’s strict segregation rules, a woman can only go out in public with her father, brother, son or husband.

But an investigation showed that al-Bulaiwi, who supplemented his pension by working as a driver, was asked by the family of the woman, who was in her 50s, to drive her home.

A statement issued by the governorate of Tabuk after al-Bulaiwi’s June 1 arrest said that he had died as a result of a severe drop in blood pressure and failure of the respiratory system.

However, the statement, carried by the official Saudi Press Agency, also said that several muttawa members would be referred to the General Investigation and Prosecution Authority. Another statement issued by the governorate on Thursday, said the men would stand trial Saturday.

While many Saudis say they support the idea of having the commission because its mandate is based on several verses in the Koran, Islam’s holy book, they also say its members exploit their broad mandate to interfere in people’s lives.

“It’s the governmental body that violates human rights the most,” said Abdul-Rahman al-Lahem, a human rights activist and lawyer. “The commission members say they are acting in the name of religion, a claim that has given them immunity against any criticism.”

Another investigation is under way into a second fatal incident, in which Saudi national Sulaiman al-Huraisi died last month while in custody of the religious police who had raided his house in Riyadh because they suspected he had alcohol on the premises. Alcohol is illegal in Saudi Arabia.

Al-Lahem said witnesses reported that the muttawa beat al-Huraisi “severely” and that he was bleeding heavily when he was taken into their custody.

The deaths have sparked a public outcry against the religious police, with almost daily coverage of the murders in the kingdom’s government-guided papers and commentaries urging the government to reform the commission.

“This campaign will end the sacredness surrounding the commission and will pave the way for its reform,” said al-Lahem.