Sunday, October 07, 2012

Powers of Saudi Religious Police Are Curbed

BBC reported last week that in Saudi Arabia, Abdul Latif Abdul Aziz al-Sheikh, head of the country's Commission for the Promotion of Virtue and Prevention of Vice, has announced new limits on the power of the religious police.  Arrests, interrogations, house raids and searches will now be carried out by other government agencies, as the public is increasingly criticizing aggressive enforcement by the Commission's mutawa.