The Control and Investigation Board is scheduled to investigate three members of the Commission for the Promotion of Virtue and Prevention of Vice, the Hai'a, who are accused of beating a man, entering his house without a permit and illegally putting him in jail. Bandar Al-Rubaish, a Hai'a spokesman in Madina who was approached by Okaz and Saudi Gazette, said the incident took place in 2008. Al-Rubaish asked to be given time to look into the case and switched off his phone. The plaintiff, a teacher at the Technical and Vocational Training Corporation in Madina whose name is being withheld, told Okaz/Saudi Gazette claimed that the Hai'a members told him they wanted to purchase a car parked in front of his house. When he came out of his house to meet them, they came out of a private car with tinted glass, did not identify themselves, beat and chained him, pushed him into their car and entered his house. “Three of the Hai'a staff broke into my house and searched without an official permit,” he said. “Then they beat me and insulted me for unknown reasons. The only thing I know is that some officials opened a vengeful complaint against me. One of them works for the Hai'a and another works for a sports club.” He said the physical attack and insults contradict Articles 35 and 40 of the Punitive Legal Proceedings, and that the incident was linked to a false exploitation case filed by his two ex-wives. He said the District Court in Madina has cleared him of these accusations and noted that the verdict was certified by the Court of Cassation in its decision No. 30/A39. The plaintiff, who claimed that he came to learn that the three men were members of the Hai'a, said they took his wallet and mobile phone, broke into his house and searched it. He said they told him to sign a confession for the crimes they raised against him, without legal grounds to do so. “At this point, I told them to hand me over to the security authorities and to reveal their identities but they rejected my request and held me in their car for three hours,” he said. “Then they moved me to the Hai'a center and locked me up for two weeks without investigation or telling security authorities about the incident.” He said authorities in the Hai'a center took him in handcuffs to the Bureau of Investigation and Prosecution where his testimony was taken in the absence of a clerk, who usually registers suspects' testimony. He said the procedures violated rules and laws defined in the legal procedures and added that a judge in the District Court has cleared him of all these accusations. The plaintiff said he filed a lawsuit against the Hai'a members at the Control and Investigation Board and is waiting for the case to be referred to the Board of Grievances in Madina, which, he noted, held its last session almost four months ago. The man said he looks forward to justice being served by the Board of Grievances. He added that he wanted compensation for the days he was locked up, the violence he suffered and because the case was hidden from security authorities.
