RIYADH — Malaz police station in Riyadh are investigating the case of a Palestinian expatriate who would marry women, treat them badly until they begged for a divorce and then ask them to pay him large sums of money for their freedom. Lawyer Mofleh Bin Hamoud Al-Ashjaie, who represents a Syrian woman, said the Palestinian expatriate mistreated his client who filed a lawsuit asking for divorce. “When the husband came to know about the lawsuit, he started blackmailing his wife to pay him a large sum of money to divorce her,” he said. The lawyer said when his client refused to succumb to the blackmailing demands, he started threatening her that he would publish photos which showed her in a bar with him when they were both outside the Kingdom. “When my client refused to give in to his threats, he asked her to reimburse the dowry he paid her which he claimed to be SR500,000,” he said. The lawyer said the husband showed a fake receipt to prove his claims. “It was obvious that the receipt was forged. There are also suspicions surrounding the source of his wealth,” he added. Al-Ashjaie said the attempts of the Palestinian expatriate to marry a Saudi woman were foiled by wise men who warned the woman against him. The lawyer also said there were a number of lawsuits in courts involving the Palestinian expatriate including one in which he accused one of his wives of adultery. “In reality, these are methods being used by the man to blackmail his wives to extort money,” he added. The lawyer accused the defendant of trading in humans and said his practice was a clear evidence of this fact. He cited a number of articles in the law combating trading in human beings which the Kingdom has issued through a Cabinet decision in 2009 and said the Palestinian expatriate has grossly violated this law. The lawyer also said the defendant has violated the Kingdom's laws which require expatriates to respect the values and norms of Saudi society.
