Saudi Gazette report JEDDAH — Four prisoners were awarded four-month jail term and 70 lashes for torturing an inmate at Briman prison, Al-Watan newspaper reported Monday quoting the defendant's lawyer. Lawyer, Mohammed Assad Salamah, said he would appeal the Summary Court verdict. He said three of the prisoners were Saudis and the fourth was an Asian expatriate. According to the lawyer, the four prisoners hanged his client Abdo Al-Harithy from the ceiling and beat him mercilessly to force him to withdraw a confession that he had stolen an amount of SR100. He said the inmates videotaped the incident and put the clip on the Internet, causing embarrassment to his client and his family. The lawyer said two of the inmates were waiting for Qisas (beheading by sword according to Islamic Shariah), while the two others are serving life terms. Salamah said he is waiting to receive the official document on the court ruling so as to appeal to the Court of Appeals. He said the prosecutor general will also appeal the verdict describing it as not harsh enough. He said he had filed three complaints against the torturers to the directorate general of prisons, Makkah Governorate and the National Society for Human Rights. "The verdict was shocking to his client's family. The four criminals should receive a harsher punishment so as to deter others," he said. The lawyer said he will also file a civil case for the personal rights of his client, who is locked for drug abuse, to be compensated financially and morally. Ahmed Al-Harithy, the victim's brother, said the verdict was too lenient and called for a retrial. He added that the defendants were very happy with the verdict. "My brother is suffering from injustice and repression. He is very depressed because the video clip showing his torture has been widely spread on social media," he said.
