JEDDAH – Marwan Al-Rawqi, legal consultant and professor of cyber crime studies said “evidence and circumstantial evidence” are a basic and important requirement within the series of procedures for the trial of persons who issue malicious remarks against others or make false accusations on matters concerning honor such as false accusations on adultery or legitimacy. The ultimate aim is to punish the perpetrator for the public and private rights, Al-Watan newspaper reported Tuesday. Al-Rawqi spoke about the mechanisms and procedures for lodging complaints on cyber crimes concerning honor. He said many people are still asking about the mechanism for filing complaints on cyber crimes though these have been spelled out within the text of the regulation for combating cyber crimes issued according to royal decree No. M/17 on 27/3/2007. Al-Rawqi stressed that this regulation is objective and deals with punishing any person who makes false accusations on the Internet about other people's honor, such as accusing them of adultery, and the procedures for such crimes remain within the sphere of the penal procedures' regulations issued according to a royal decree in 2001. He said the complaint starts with the plaintiff going to the nearest police station with the evidence of the malicious attack. The plaintiff can take his/her PC or laptop if it has any connection with the crime that was committed. Al-Rawqi called on police officers in charge of reports on such crimes to mention these items and their connection clearly in the report as required in the collection of evidence. He said the plaintiff also has to provide information on the attacker, if known, to aid police officers in summoning the suspect and record his/her statement regarding the charges filed against him. The items related to the crime, such as a computer, will be held in preparation for sending them to the Communication and Information Technology Commission (CITC), which according to its powers and Article 14 of the anti-cyber crime regulation, can provide technical support to the authorities concerned during the reporting of the crime. If the accused is an unidentified person, then the police in this case will request the CITC to identify the perpetrator of the crime through their own methods and collect as much evidence on him/her before they will arrest the alleged culprit as well as seize all items related to the crime.
Anti-cyber crime regulation: l Cyber crime: Any act that is committed using a computer or the Internet in violation of the rules of the regulation. l Article Two: One of the objectives of the regulation is to protect the public interest, morals and rules of conduct in public decency. l Article Six: Whoever produces what infringes on public order, religious values, rules of conduct in public, or inviolability of private life will be punished with imprisonment for a period not exceeding five years and a maximum fine of SR3 million. l Article Three: Imprisonment for a period not exceeding one year plus a fine not exceeding SR500,000 for whoever is found guilty of the following: l Eavesdropping on material sent through the Internet without authorization according to the regulations. l Threatening and blackmail. l Hacking into a website so as to introduce any change, damage or destroy it. l Infringement on private life. l Defaming and harming others.
