A Saudi newspaper has accused the Kingdom’s religious police, the Committee for Protection of Virtue and Prevention of Vice, of using obscene images to lure suspected criminals online.
According to the Makkah Newspaper, the Bureau of Investigation and Prosecution in Saudi Arabia’s Asir province has warned the religious police to “strictly stick with criminal procedure regulations laid out by the law” after discovering that the police was luring cybercrime suspects using obscene photographs.
The suspects, who were arrested during sting operations, told the Asir’s investigation bureau that the conversations they had online were not initiated by them but by the strangers whom they met online. They further claimed that those strangers sent them obscene images and insisted on meeting in person. They later turned out to be members of the religious police.
Refuting the allegations, Turki al-Shalil, the spokesperson for the religious police, said, “We address all IT and ethical criminal activities in accordance with the law and regulations laid out by standard criminal regulations.”
Shalil also denied that the religious police have ever used phishing and spyware software to monitor suspected criminals that do not comply with the law.
Reportedly, a lawsuit is being filed against Makkah and Marsad newspapers for publishing reports alleging the abuse of power by the Religious Police.
