Corpun file 8852 at www.corpun.com
Arab News, Jeddah/Riyadh/Dhahran, 6 January 2002
Prisoner given 5 more months, 200 lashes for inciting jail riot
By Saqr Al-Amri
Arab News Staff
JEDDAH, 6 January - A summary court in Tabuk has sentenced a prisoner to an additional five months' imprisonment and 200 lashes for inciting a jail riot.
The Court of Cassation in Makkah endorsed the verdict returned by the lower court after it was convinced that the charges brought against the accused had been proved beyond doubt.
The court ordered that the caning should be carried out in five weekly instalments of 40 lashes each.
The prisoner, who had been serving a jail term in a Sakaka prison for a criminal offense, was convicted of illegal assembly, inciting other inmates to riot, setting jail furniture on fire and assaulting jail officials, according to the prosecution.
The public prosecutor said in a statement to the court that the police control room in Sakaka town received a call from the prison officials requesting reinforcements to restore calm after rioting prisoners set alight one of the jail's warehouses.
The rioters smashed tables, shelves and beds in the warehouse, smashed windowpanes and torched part of the store, the statement said.
One of the prison guards testified that the prisoners had abused the prison director during his usual round. Another guard said one of the warehouses was torched, but the fire was put out immediately.
The prisoners later gathered inside the warehouse shouting slogans, locked themselves in and started destroying furniture and other articles, according to the charge sheet.
Another prison employee said when he tried to alert the guards about the fire he was beaten up by the prisoners. The prison employees, who had witnessed the destruction, identified the accused as the leader of the rioters.
On interrogation, 15 prisoners confessed that the accused had persuaded them to start rioting.
He urged them to gather and abuse the jail director, the public prosecutor added.
The accused pleaded not guilty to all the charges.
Abdullah ibn Isa Al-Ghaith, the Tabuk summary court judge, said the verdict was returned after a thorough examination of the investigation report and witnesses' testimonies.
The judge added that the records of the accused showed that he had not been abiding by the jail regulations.
"All the evidence presented supported the public prosecutor's arguments though the accused denied the charges both during the investigation and in the court," the judge said.
Corpun file 8883 at www.corpun.com
Arab News, Jeddah/Riyadh/Dhahran, 18 January 2002
Youths flogged for harassing girls
By a Staff Writer
RIYADH, 18 January - Riyadh Governor Prince Salman ordered the flogging of four youths who harassed picnickers last weekend in Al-Thamama area in Riyadh.
During the period between Jan. 1 and 15, a special committee comprising representatives of the governorate, the public prosecution and investigations department, the police and the Commission for the Promotion of Virtue and Prevention of Vice, arrested and flogged 39 youths -- including 11 expatriates -- for harassing girls in front of girls' schools, women's colleges and public parks, Al-Riyadh newspaper reported yesterday.
The punishments were executed at various police stations across the city. The committee has also warned the youths that if they repeated the violations they would be jailed after being flogged.
Corpun file 9170 at www.corpun.com
Arab News, Jeddah/Riyadh/Dhahran, 24 January 2002
Female jailer jailed for immoral activities
By Saeed Al-Abyad
Arab News Staff
JEDDAH, 24 January The Court of Grievances has sentenced a female jailer to 18 months in jail and 300 lashes for managing a brothel.
She was also found guilty of causing a 33-year-old female colleague to be away from her family and work for four days without their knowledge.
The jailer was based at a woman's prison in Jeddah.
Police mounted a search for the jailer's colleague and took several suspects into custody. Subsequent investigations revealed that the jailer was involved in "immoral activities", and had been responsible for leading the missing woman astray.
The woman herself admitted that she had been in the company of the jailer during her absence.
The court ordered that the female jailer be terminated from her employment once she completed her prison term.
