Headlines
Indian national arrested for blasphemous Facebook post
Riyadh, March 5
The Indian consulate in Jeddah
has confirmed the arrest of an Indian in Saudi Arabia for allegedly
posting a blasphemous image of the Kaaba on his Facebook page, media
reported Thursday.
Consul General B.S. Mubarak on Wednesday
confirmed that the Indian national has been jailed for violating the
country's cyber laws, the Arab News reported on Thursday.
"This
happened a month ago in Jeddah and the Saudi law enforcement authorities
are currently conducting an investigation," he said.
"We are trying to help him in the best possible way," he added.
According
to legal experts, once the investigations are over, judgement would be
pronounced and only then would the consulate be able to enter a plea on
his behalf.
Under the country's cyber laws, anyone involved in
the transmission or storage of material violating religious values and
public morals, can be jailed for up to five years and fined up to three
million Saudi riyals (about $800,000).
The image displayed on
Facebook showed the Holy Kaaba plastered with Hindu deities. A Saudi
national, shocked by the image, alerted the Commission for the Promotion
of Virtue and the Prevention of Vice, and an investigation was
launched.
The Indian expatriate was arrested by the police at the
airport and he admitted that the Facebook page was his, but said that
he had seen a link to the picture on another account and that he had to
click "Like" option to enable to see it.
The picture was automatically loaded onto his account, he said.
However, investigators held him guilty of breaking the country's cyber law by publishing an offensive picture.
The man is said to have been in the country for only two years and was working for a catering company in Jeddah.
Social media experts said people needed to be very careful about posts on Facebook and Twitter.
"These are serious issues,†Adnan Akram, a consultant with an online security firm, was quoted as saying.