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Saudis hold five religious police | Saudis hold five religious police |
(1 day later) | |
Five members of the Saudi religious police, known as the mutawaeen, have been arrested accused of responsibility for the death of a man in custody. | |
The man died at a mutawaeen office in Tabuk, the Saudi authorities say. | |
Officials said the man had been questioned for allegedly associating with a woman who was not a relative. | Officials said the man had been questioned for allegedly associating with a woman who was not a relative. |
It is the latest in a series of abuse allegations levelled against members of the religious police whose task is to enforce a strict Islamic moral code. | |
Many Saudis have accused the religious police, officially called the Commission for the Promotion of Virtue and the Prevention of Vice, of being overzealous in the pursuit of their duties. | |
The man, who has not been named, died on Friday in the northern city. | |
Saudi press reports say police are also investigating the death of an Asian woman who fell from the fourth floor of a building that was stormed by mutawaeen last week. | |
A year ago, the government decreed that mutawaeen could not interrogate detained suspects, as they had previously done, but must immediately hand them over to regular police. |
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