Saudi Jailed for 5 Years for providing Massage Services and assisting Prostitution

The Jeddah Criminal Court has just recently sentenced a Saudi national to five years in prison plus an additional fine of SAR 3 million.

What is the Crime? The Saudi national man has been found guilty of offering various massage services in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia to married couples through the social media application Snapchat, along with also providing apartments for the purpose of prostitution.

The prosecution had accused the Saudi national man of violating the information law of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. The story was initially reported by the Saudi based Al Watan newspaper.

Sting Operation by HAIA: A source close to the judiciary spoke to the Al Watan daily newspaper and stated that the HAIA force or the Commission for the Promotion of Virtue and Prevention of Vice had received an anonymous tip-off about a Saudi national man who had been promoting various massage services, which was in fact only a cover in order to carry out several other immoral activities, which are banned or illegal in the Kingdom.

The HAIA commission had set up a sting operation in order to apprehend the man and was able to successfully do so. The judicial source speaking to Al Watan daily stated that the suspect faced intense questioning by the HAIA Commission, and following that the prosecution prepared a whole list of charges that he would be facing.

Judicial Proceedings: The case was subsequently transferred on to the Jeddah Criminal Court, where the presiding judge had confronted the Saudi man with irrefutable evidence which had been collected against him.

The Saudi national man initially denied all of the charges which were placed on him and stated that he had only created the account on social media platform Snapchat in good faith and not for any immoral purposes. He added that his intention was to find information on various tips of massaging as well as the prices people are willing to pay for it.

However, several men who were members of the HAIA force gave sworn testimony before the presiding judge and in the testimony, they confirmed receiving a communication which proved the immoral acts of the Saudi man.

The HAIA team members also stated that they additionally found various compromising photographs saved on several mobile devices owned by the man. The accused man then proceeded to confess in court that his main aim was to lure the married couples back to a private apartment.

The Punishment: The judicial source also told the Al Watan daily that the Saudi man was finally convicted of preparing a place which would be used for prostitution, which is forbidden in the laws of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.

The man was sentenced by the presiding judge to five years behind bars and a fine of SAR 30 million.

What I do not understand is that why would somebody even attempt to do something in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, a country which is known for its total prohibition to any and all indecent behavior and activities.

Source: Saudi Gazette