MADINAH – The chief of the Commission of the Promotion of Virtue and the Prevention of Vice (Haia) said he possesses powers that ministers do not have. Dr. Abdullatif Al-Asheikh added he would not have had these powers in the past but now the situation is different. He noted that there are 20 members within the Haia organization working against him but that some of them had been dismissed and he is working on the removal of others. Al-Asheikh told reporters during his visit to Madinah to attend a meeting of Haia members who work as translators that he can fire any commission employee if the need arises. Replying to a question on how the Haia arrests criminals who use social media to carry out their activities, Al-Asheikh said: “Try to violate the laws yourself on social media and you'll see how.” Discussing the four employees who attacked the British man and his Saudi wife in Riyadh earlier this month, Al-Asheikh said the Haia did not base its decision to discipline them on the nationality of the victim. “We ascertained the facts and studied all details then took the proper procedures without looking at the nationality of the persons involved. “Had we not gotten all necessary details, we wouldn't have taken any decision regarding the case even if we had to wait for a full year.” The decision to transfer the four members is final and binding and was not taken in haste, he said. Al-Asheikh said the Haia plans to install cameras in its members' vehicles. During his visit, the Haia chief told all employees to be nice and kind to pilgrims and reminded them of how Islam is a religion of kindness.
