Charges Against Saudi Religious Police Dismissed

The International Herald Tribune reports today that a court in Saudi Arabia has dropped charges against three members of the country's religious police and a regular police officer. They were charged in the death of Ahmed al-Bulaiwi a retired border patrol guard who supplemented his pension by acting as a driver. He was arrested after police observed a woman who was not related to him getting into his car near an amusement park. Women are permitted to be in public only with male relatives. Reports say the Saudi judge dismissed the case without questioning witnesses or reviewing the medical report on al-Bulaiwi's death. Religious police are employed by the country's Commission for the Propagation of Virtue and the Prevention of Vice.(See prior related posting.)