Mick Hartley

As with most reports on the activities of the Muttawa, the Saudi religious police, news of a death in custody will be followed soon enough by the words “completely exonerated”:

A Bangladeshi man died of fright after being arrested by Saudi Arabia’s controversial religious police for washing a car instead of praying, a local newspaper reported on Sunday.
The unnamed man died last week in the holy city of Medina after being detained by members of the Commission for the Promotion of Virtue and Prevention of Vice, Al-Jazirah reported.

The Arabic daily said the man “convulsed in fear after he was arrested, leading to a drop in his blood pressure and causing his death.”

The man was arrested by members of the commission, commonly known as the Muttawa, for washing a car during a time of day when he should have been at prayer, the paper said…

The head of the Muttawa, Ibrahim al-Ghaith, said the Bangladeshi man “fainted” while being transported in a vehicle and that doctors found no signs of “assault or torture” on his body, Al-Watan newspaper reported.

Three commission members and policeman who witnessed the incident were questioned before being completely exonerated, it added.

This follows recent reports on the death in custody of a man arrested for associating with a woman who wasn’t a relative, and a Nigerian arrested for trying to help a sick neighbour.