Prince Mish'al Bin Majed, Governor of Jeddah, ordered the release on Saturday of a man and wife in police custody on charges of attacking staff from the Commission for Promotion of Virtue and Prevention of Vice (the Hai'a), but their accusers say they will proceed with their claim. “The police and members of the Hai'a have no intention of dropping their private action,” said the Hai'a spokesman for the Makkah region, Salim Al-Sarawani. The accused, who is a government employee, “launched insults and attacks”, according to Al-Sarawani, who added that “officials are investigating the case”. The Commission for Investigation and Prosecution received on Saturday formal papers presenting the complaint from the Hai'a in the Al-Rawabi District of Jeddah. Saudi Gazette reported last Friday that the couple had gone to offices of the Hai'a with one of their sons after he had complained of being “maltreated” by Hai'a staff while outside a girls' school earlier in the day, but the appearance of the three led the Hai'a to call in police and claim that the parents and son had attacked Hai'a staff at the office. Al-Sarawani said that the incident went back to last Wednesday when Hai'a staff were conducting routine patrols of girls' schools and colleges and came upon two male youths in a car trying to attract the attention of pupils as they finished the school day. “When they saw the Hai'a they sped off,” Al-Sarawani said on Saturday. “But later as the staff continued their duties they came across the same vehicle parked by a group of pupils at the main gate of another school. They were this time warned of their behavior and a written pledge was taken from them to cease their activities and not repeat them, and the father of one of the youths was informed and he offered an apology.” Al-Sarawani said a member of his staff was then taken aback as he left his office at the end of the working day to find a car parked next to his own vehicle, in it a woman with her son. “They got out and attacked the Hai'a member and smashed the windscreen of the patrol car,” he said. The wife's husband then reportedly appeared and joined in the attack, launching abuse at the Hai'a member and a Hai'a-affiliated policeman. “Concerned at the developing situation, the Hai'a staff member called the police, and the parents and their son were taken into custody by Al-Jame'a Police,” Al-Sarawani said. A member of the family concerned said that his brother – the youth found by the Hai'a outside the girls' schools – had been “beaten and also searched in an inappropriate manner”. “They also took my brother's mobile phone and his wallet from him before giving them back when the police arrived,” he said. “The whole thing began when they the Hai'a took my brother into custody for being at a girls' school, but he was only there to pick up our sister who's a pupil at the school,” he said. “The Hai'a hit him and injured him in the eye, and there are witnesses to that, and he also lost a large amount of money when they searched his wallet.” “When my parents went with my brother to the Hai'a's offices to complain they were locked in a room for four hours, forcing them to call the police. They were refused release under guarantee, contrary to the law, and my mother was taken to Bariman General Prison,” he said. An eyewitness who wished to remain anonymous said he saw the Hai'a tie the hands of the youth and hit him. “I'm prepared to appear before a court as a witness,” he said.
