Saudi Arabia: Serial actors, actress detained by religious police in Riyadh

By Abdul Rahman Shaheen, Correspondent
Published: March 31, 2009, 18:29


Riyadh: In an early hour swoop on a famous hotel in Riyadh City, members of the Commission for Promotion of Virtue and Prevention of Vice (religious police) have taken into custody a number of artists and other members of the production unit of a television serial.

Those incustody included three actors and one actress who were then handed over to the local police. Later, they were released on bail.

Acting on a tip-off, a religious police squad raided the location of the serial on the lobby of the hotel in the eastern part of the city on Monday early morning.

The artists were engaged in shooting an episode of the serial "Ayyamu Al Surab" (Days of Surab), produced by Al Sadaf Company.

According to Al Watan Arabic daily, those who have been taken into custody included the noted Omani actor Ebrahim Al Zidjali, artists Ali Saad and Fawaz Al Jaser and the actress Sahar.

Religious policemen took them to the Commission’s nearby Omar bin Al Khattab branch office and then handed them over to the police.

According to sources at the production unit of the serial, religious policemen have taken the team members into custody accusing gender-mixing of male and female artists at the hotel lobby.

They said that the actress Sahar was detained for some time at the reform centre of the Commission where she underwent guidance classes by a group of women officials about dangers of mixing with men at public places.

Immediately after the incident, the remaining members of the production team vacated the hotel premises.

Later, sources at Al Manar police station confirmed the report and said that the detained artists were released on bail. When contacted by reporters, the religious police sources refused to comment on the incident.

Reaction

Reacting to the incident, which made almost all the members of the production team dumbfounded, the Omani actor Ebrahim Al Zidjali wondered whether film shooting is a taboo in the Kingdom even though the official television channels air several serials, whose shooting take place at public places with the permission of the civilian and security authorities.

He also drew attention to the recently concluded Janadriya festival where King Abdullah Bin Abdul Aziz honoured a number of Saudi artists.