Job Discussion Forums

[Balzac]

Anyone know what happened here?

http://www.blueabaya.com/2014/09/the-attack-of-the-flying-muttawa.html

Be interesting to know what triggered it all.

Seems pretty scary and hopefully not a sign of things to come!

B

[Balzac]

Here as well http://english.alarabiya.net/en/News/middle-east/2014/09/01/British-man-and-his-Saudi-wife-attacked-by-religious-police-outside-Riyadh-mall.html

[johnslat]

Dear Balzac,

What triggered it all? Why almost certainly the sight of a "Western" man accompanied by a "Saudi" (or at least Arab) woman.

"Seems pretty scary and hopefully not a sign of things to come!"

Things to come? It hasn't been exactly unknown in Saudi for quite some time for the religious police to go over the top.

"Saudi Arabia's religious police 'contains extremists'

"Religious police officers - who roam the streets enforcing strict segregation of the sexes, an absolute prohibition of the sale and consumption of alcohol, a ban on women driving and many other social restrictions - are frequently accused of abusing their powers

"Legalising prolonged incommunicado detention and blocking timely judicial challenges to detention is a recipe for systematic torture”

Said Boumedouha Amnesty International

In 2002, journalists and witnesses said religious police officers had hampered efforts to rescue 15 girls who died in a fire at a school in Mecca. They were accused of preventing girls from leaving the school without their headscarves and of stopping male rescuers from entering. However, an inquiry absolved the officers of responsibility for the deaths.

More recently, officers were accused of causing a fatal car crash when they chased a man who had refused to turn his radio down."

Regards,
John

[Balzac]

John,

that's undoubtedly part ofit for sure. Anohtgher aspect is that those Muttawa guys were young and were perhaps ignorant of the fact that those female operated checkout are in fact family areas, not only for women.

Having read the accounts in the UK's Daily Telegraph, on http://english.alarabiya.net, in the Saudi Gazette and the guy's own testimony given on Facebook and another wesbite in KSA, it seems obvious that the Muttawa overstepped over the customary boundaries and went too far even kicking him in the head and attacking his Saudi wife. They also snatehced his credit card from him and demanded he delet photos of them from his camera.

They seem like thugs in thobes.

I hope this is not a taste of things to come in the Magic Kingdom!

B

[The Fifth Column]

[SheikMilkShake]

In Riyadh, one Thai restaurant was the most popular place for muttawas to offer free rides for those love birds, to the Grand Muttawa HQ on weekends.

Colleagues said that both Muttawa officers ( F and M) were courteous, offering them tea, coffee and even chocolates, until their sponsors arrived to claim them back. They were kept in separate offices. No charges were made but they needed to sign something in Arabic.

I guess this Brit had something to hide..acting abnormal.

Even for Saudi couples, they need to make a phone call to their parents or in-laws in front of Muttawa to prove that they are married. They usually check IDs and names to match with a marriage paper/Saudi household card. Saudi men must always carry their house hold card when in company of their wives.

If unmarried, the couple would be taken to the HQ, and usually a woman will be released to her guardian or sponsor, a man may be jailed for 24 hrs and/or 50 lashes etc.

[nomad soul]

Expats aren't the only ones targeted; the mutaween often behave badly toward their own citizens. In fact, I suspect Saudi nationals have complained the most about being bullied and physically abused by the religious police. Anyway, a couple of years ago, the Commission for the Promotion of Virtue and Prevention of Vice (AKA "Hai'a") got a new (and allegedly, improved) leader, who established reforms to reel in Hai'a members' overzealous behavior. Given the worldwide publicity of this latest incident, the Hai'a's top man will likely take some serious action against the offending members to assure the public this type of behavior won't be tolerated. So much for impunity.

By the way, a male dealing directly with a female cashier isn't an issue in less-conservative Jeddah.