Special to WorldTribune.com

ABU DHABI — Saudi Arabia has reportedly punished a member of the
religious police.

An officer of the Saudi religious police, called the Saudi Committee for the Promotion of Virtue and the Prevention of Vice (CPVPV), has been sentenced to prison after he was convicted of assault. The unidentified officer was given a two-month sentence in what was said to have been an unprecedented trial in a Saudi civil court.

On July 28, the Saudi daily Okaz reported that the officer had been convicted of a civilian. Judge Mohammed Bin Said Al Qahtani presided over the case for several months in wake of a complaint by the civilian.

Okaz said the police officer was suspended immediately after the complaint and an investigation was launched. The newspaper, quoting court records, said the religious police sought to arrest him on charges of being alone with a woman who was not a relative. An officer then attacked the man.

The religious police officer was arrested by the regular Saudi police in
the city of Medina. Prosecutors said the officer resisted arrest.

During the trial, the officer was determined to have known the civilian.
Prosecutors said the officer used his position as a member of the religious
police to harass the civilian.

The religious police, said to contain 10,000 officers, have long been
under criticism for harassing both Saudis as well as foreigners. Saudi King
Abdullah was said to have pledged several times to make the police
accountable.

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