Abdul Rahman Al-Ali Saudi Gazette JEDDAH – Two members of the Commission for the Promotion of Virtue and the Prevention of Vice (Hai'a) appeared Saturday before the Jeddah Administrative Court after being accused of assaulting a young man and tearing up his clothes in front of a South Jeddah mall several weeks ago. Both members were accused of using force against the young man who was waiting in his car outside the mall. When the man refused to show the Hai'a members his ID card, they allegedly pulled him out and assaulted him. The victim was left bruised and his clothes torn up in the ensuing fracas. One of the Hai'a members said the young man had the contusions because he resisted arrest. He accused the young man of unleashing a barrage of swear words against the Hai'a members. He also said the man took off his clothes and refused to put them back on. The presiding judge produced another version of the incident submitted by the mall's head of security, who said he saw one of the Hai'a members beating up the young man while the latter was waiting in his car. Both members denied the assault charges. They also argued that Hai'a regulations permit them to use force against anyone who resists arrest and refuses to go with them. The judge adjourned the case to September 2013 after the Hai'a members presented a copy of the regulations. Earlier, the judge criticized the way some Hai'a members deal with members of the public and blamed the defendants for giving the Hai'a a bad name.
