Saudi Prince Arrested After ’Videos Surface of Him Abusing, Threatening People’
Local Editor
A Saudi prince was arrested after a video emerged online purporting to show him abusing someone and pointing a rifle at another.
The Saudi King ordered the arrest and interrogation of the prince on Wednesday, a day after short video clips were published on YouTube and shared on Twitter showing what appears to be a rifle pointed toward a man who is bleeding from the head and pleading.
One clip, viewed more than 760,000 times, also shows 18 bottles of alcoholic drinks displayed on a table and a wad of cash. The sale and consumption of alcohol in Saudi Arabia is forbidden.
Another video clip shows a man sitting in a car, bleeding and being sworn at for parking in front of a house. Another clip shows what appears to be the prince punching and slapping a man who is sitting on a chair.
The clips went viral in Saudi Arabia under an Arabic Twitter hashtag that said "prince transgresses on citizens".
Saudi Arabia's state TV reported that the king had ordered a full investigation into the incidents and the arrest of Prince Saud bin Abdulaziz bin Musaed bin Saud bin Abdulaziz, as well as any associates that appeared in the clips.
He ordered that no individual involved in the case be released until a court has issued a ruling in line with the country's laws.
In the order, King Salman urged people to remain vigilant in monitoring any exploitation of status or abuse of power.
After he issued the order, a video seen nearly a quarter of a million times showed the young, low-level prince, dressed in a black T-shirt and grey trousers, handcuffed and with his feet chained being escorted into a building by security officers.
While many Saudis wrote in support of the king's decision on Twitter, outspoken rights activist Moudi Aljohani said the order actually points to how lax the authorities are when it comes to royals.
Source: News Agencies, Edited by website team
