Prisoners who wish to pursue their studies, sit in an examination at the Al-Madinah Prison. — Al- Watan photo JEDDAH — A Saudi man has been locked behind bars for the past 12 years – a sentence which outweighs the crime he was convicted for in the first place. Abdullah Al-Muklif, President of the National Committee for the Care of Prisoners, Released Prisoners and their Families, in Madina, describes the case as heartbreaking and unparalleled. Numerous questions could be raised and anyone who studies the case would enter an exhausting cycle of never-ending revolving doors. The case that made headlines in the holy city over a decade ago involved a young man who paid a heavy price for assaulting his father's wife and damaging his father's car. Eid, 43, was under the influence of alcohol when he headed to his family's house in a drunken bout of rage. Eid's anger spiraled out of control as he attacked his father's wife and then set his father's car on fire. That he would not ever repeat such violence, his father went to the court and got him punished for his outrage. The court sentenced Eid to a three-year imprisonment with 200 lashes and a fine of SR26,000 for damages to his father's car. Just before Eid's initial sentence neared its end and he had fulfilled all the requirements asked by the court, Eid's father approached the judge and convinced him to impose a harsher punishment and to keep Eid in jail for an indefinite period of time. Eid has been languishing in a prison in Madina ever since. Social services, humanitarian agencies and several charitable organizations tried to intervene in defense of Eid urging his father to drop the charges against him but to no avail. He is adamant and refuses to budge insisting that Eid be given a life sentence. The National Committee for the Care of Prisoners in Madina has taken on the challenge of getting Eid freed as he has been kept behind bars for so long. Al-Mukhlif informed Al-Watan daily that Eid was 29 years old when he was imprisoned and his education did not go beyond fifth grade in elementary school. Serving his sentence, Eid studied hard and completed his education to successfully receive a high school certificate. After graduation, Eid enrolled himself in a distance learning university and he is now in his second year. All the guards and other prisoners where Eid is confined vouch for his improved conduct, his repentance and good behavior. According to Al-Mukhlif, those who know Eid say that he performs his obligatory prayers each day without fail, spends long hours in contemplation and recitation of the Holy Qur'an, and that he is not violent or aggressive. “A ray of hope appeared when the Saudi Human Rights Commission referred Eid's case to the Minister of Justice, Dr. Mohammad Al-Issa,” Al-Mukhlif told Al-Watan. “Although the minister has ordered his release, the poor soul continues to languish in the prison until the authorities ensure that he is a reformed man.”
