A senior official at the Commission for Promotion of Virtue and Prevention of Vice remained tight-lipped to either confirm or deny the use of force against suspects in the custody of the Commission. Sheikh Ahmad Qassim Al-Ghamdi, director of the Commission's branch in Makkah, told Al-Hayat “Neither Islam nor the government approves abusing people.” “We are keen on treating people nicely and our doors are open to whoever has a complaint,” he said. Al-Ghamdi said there is no immunity in Islamic Shariah for the commission officers. They can be questioned if they violate their job description which doesn't include chasing any suspected person, he said. “Our task is limited to report the suspected car or person to the police,” he said. He has reiterated that no one is above the law, confirming that the Commission officials look into any complaint they receive against their officers and refer it to the authorities in charge. “There are no exceptions in law and whichever officer violates the rules of the Commission or abuses power will be subjected to investigation and punishment if convicted, no matter what his status is,” he said. In case of harassment of women at public places, Shariah court is the only place to rule in all harassment cases, he said, urging strict rules to deter harassers. Commenting on accusations of some Commission officers' uncultivated practices with the public such as beating and shouting at women in public places, Al-Ghmadi said “By law, they should no beat or shout at any woman because such a behavior has no ground in Shariah, thus no one is allowed to behave with his own rules.” “Although some women have taken the profession of beggary as a coverup for immoral practices, still the Commission officers are not authorized to beat or shout at them,” he said. “Any officer caught beating or shouting at women will be punished,” he said. There is no unified arrest policy in the Commission as different Commission members use different ways of arresting violators, he said. He warned against the increasing number of girls falling under blackmail threats by boys, saying most of the victims of blackmail cases are teen-aged girls. “This type of cases are worrisome because of their negative social and security consequences,” he said. Al-Ghamdi said the Commission has conducted an extensive study on the blackmail threat phenomenon and its findings and recommendations have been forwarded to the authorities concerned in Makkah Governorate, which would be eventually submitted to the Ministry of Interior to study it and find a law framework for it. Development in Madina case The Control and Investigation in Madina has released on bail the two Commission officers, detained on grounds of Al-Khalil incident which took place on March 30 claiming the lives of two men, a woman and her daughter. Sultan Bin Zahim , the officers' lawyer said the detention of his clients in solitary confinement had no legal grounds. The General Investigation and Prosecution Authority which ordered their detention could have interrogated them without physically detaining as they were on duty when the incident occurred. Encountering the argument of the lawyer, the General Investigation and Prosecution Authority said it has ordered their release on bail because of the discrepancies in the witnesses' testimonies. One of the eye witnesses said he saw the commission SUV was tailing the victims' car, while another said he saw the commission SUV moving behind the victims' car from a distance a few minutes from the crash. The witness said he had repeatedly requested the two officers to stop and help rescuse one of the victims, but they refused. In his petition submitted to the Board of Grievances in Madina, Zahim said that he contested the decision made by the Prosecution Authority to detain and interrogate his clients for more than two months, a procedure he thinks violates the law. __
