Okaz/Saudi Gazette TAIF — The Criminal Court in Taif sentenced a man and his son to a total of 16 years in prison and 4,500 lashes for physically assaulting a judge. The men were charged with physically assaulting a judge in a court in the north of Taif governorate. The men ambushed the judge when he was leaving a mosque after the night prayer. The judge sustained injuries in his head and hand and was transported to hospital. Police stepped in and investigated the case until they tracked down the assaulters and arrested them. The Criminal Court held a hearing in the the case and charged the man with assault of an important public figure and of drug abuse. The court rejected demands for the man to be sentenced to death for assaulting a judge but settled with sentencing him to 15 years in prison and 4,000 lashes. The son was sentenced to a year in prison and 500 lashes for complicity in the crime. The lashing will be held in a public area in front of the governorate, the police, the court and the ombudsman. The lashes will be given in multiple lashes in several installments. The Ministry of Justice will not condone any assault on its employees and will punish the perpetrators severely, the court said while issuing the judgement The defendants also signed a pledge to never physically or verbally assault a judge or any member of the judicial body in future.
