Abdulrahman Al-Ali Saudi Gazette JEDDAH — The Control and Investigation Board submitted evidence on Sunday at the Jeddah Administrative Court against two members of the Commission for Promotion of Virtue and Prevention of Vice (Hai'a) accused of assaulting a youth in Jeddah. It said the evidence proved the two Hai'a members stopped the victim's car near a shopping mall and then one of them exited the car and asked the youth for identification before allegedly assaulting him and tearing off his clothes. The last court session was postponed due to an absence of witnesses for the fourth time in a row. The court had notified the witnesses that their presence in court was required before it could issue a verdict. During the last court session, the two defendants rejected the accusations against them. They claimed that the youth was committing a violation near the shopping mall. They asked him for identification but he defied them violently, they said. He then tried to run away and refused to get in the Hai'a's car, they said. The judge, Saad Al-Malki, questioned one of the suspects about the witnesses who saw the incident. He replied that the witness statements were not true. The judge also asked whether he is still on duty, to which he replied that he was still on duty but had been transferred to the anti-beggary committee. The second suspect also denied the accusations and refuted the witness statements. The judge said police should issue subpoenas to the witnesses to testify before a verdict could be issued.
