The General Court in Jeddah issued a Hadd Al-Hirabah (armed robbery) verdict against three members of a gang of 11 Asians – nine men and two women – who planned and participated in robbing and killing a Saudi national. The perpetrators tied the victim's hands and legs, placed a towel in his mouth and hit him repeatedly with a hammer on his head until he died. Of the eleven, three will be beheaded, five will be imprisoned for five years and receive 1,000 lashes of the whip, one woman was sentenced to four years in jail plus 400 lashes of the whip, while a man and woman were sentenced to six months in jail, Al-Jazirah Arabic daily reported Thursday. The crime dates back to 2007 when police were called to the murdered man's residence in Jeddah's Al-Mushrafa District after a citizen discovered his body. The dead man was only identified as A.Y. aged 46. When officers arrived at the scene, they found the body lying face down with its hands and legs bound with a wire. The dead man was in his underwear and his mouth was gagged with a piece of cloth. There were blood stains on his head and the hammer used as the murder weapon was lying next to the body. They also found a safe at the entrance to the house and a bag with its contents scattered. On inspecting the scene, officers found that the culprits gained access to the apartment by cutting an opening through the grill covering the passage to the apartment. Further investigation and coordination with Saudi Telecommunications Company (STC) to trace the victim's cell phone history revealed that his SIM card had been replaced with another one. The SIM card number was registered to a man from Southeast Asia. Records showed several outgoing calls to a number that belonged to another Asian expatriate. The latter was kept under surveillance and eventually arrested. Upon interrogation, he led authorities to the gang. Hadd Al-Hirabah is sometimes known as the penalty for armed robbery or robbery with violence. The penalty varies according to the severity and level of violence used during the crime.
