A court in Dhulm has sentenced a man to 15 days' prison and 40 lashes for insulting the municipality in a case that has seen several postponements and transfers from court to court. The case went from a court in Al-Muweih to the Dhulm court after an appeal to Makkah's Court of Cassation which overruled the Al-Muweih court judge who ordered the man to pay SR4,000 to a charity in Taif. The plaintiff, a store owner, was originally accused of insulting the municipality by municipality workers, a charge he wholly denied. “I find it strange,” he said, “that my accusers are also witnesses in the trial,” alleging an “abuse of power” on the part of municipality employees.
