Mick Hartley

From the Saudi Gazette:

A religious group barged into the Riyadh International Book Fair 2011 Wednesday night for what it described as “immoral practices” intimidating both visitors and organizers at the most important cultural event in the Saudi calendar.

The group claimed it was “denouncing violations of Islamic teachings taking place at the book fair,” one religious man said. The violations included, the group said, the mixing of genders and presence of “questionable books and authors” at the book fair. Some of the group members demanded the confiscation of certain books by Lebanese publishers describing them as “against Islam.”…

A female journalist, who wanted to be anonymous, said that the group stopped her from taking photos of the event. “Photos are haram (impermissible in Islam),” they told her, she said. “They even accused me of flirting with them,” she added. The journalist said she reported the incident to the police.

A female nurse from the Ministry of Health, who was attending the event, said the group called her “lewd” despite wearing her Muslim veil.”It was devastating and I had to leave immediately,” she said.

A book fair organizer said the “angry group” intimidated him. “They threatened to break my hand,” said Abdullah Wafiya, a member of the organizing committee. Talk show host Turki Al-Dakheel was also scolded by the group for his outspoken TV show Idha’at on Al-Arabiya TV and articles in Al-Watan newspaper. “Fear Allah in what you present to the public,” they told him.

As the group intensified its confrontation with organizers, journalists, and authors, the police grouped them and drove them outside the conference hall, allowing visitors to spend a little headache-free time flipping through the books. Eyewitnesses said that the police detained at least three of the group.

According to Arab News the members of the "religious group" may in fact have been from the religious police:

Several activists, alleged to be members of the Commission for the Promotion of Virtue and the Prevention of Vice, stormed the Riyadh book fair on Wednesday evening, roughed up participants and relayed orders through a mike for women to dress up properly and move graciously or face the consequences.

The Haia members also opposed the invitation of some intellectuals who have allegedly criticized Islamic teachings to the seminars being held on the sidelines of the exhibition.

It's not the first time there've been problems at the Saudi Book Fair. From 2009:

Saudi Arabia's religious police detained two male novelists for questioning last week after they attempted to get the autograph of a female writer at a book fair in Riyadh, according to local media reports.

According to the Saudi daily newspaper Al-Watan, Abdu Khal and Abdullah Thabet approached female writer Halima Muzfar when they were stopped by police.

They do seem to have a problem with women, don't they?