Riyadh (AsiaNews / Agencies) - Arbitrary arrests to punish women with too much eye make-up, chases through the streets of Riyadh over a load car stereo. These are just some of the abuses dealt by the Mutawa, the feared Saudi religious police, who have of late witnessed a drastic fall in popularity among the population. In recent months there have been dozens of complaints against the excesses of the agents in the control of dress codes, customs and observance of Sharia.
In recent days, Abdul Latif Abudl Aziz al-Sheikh, the new reformist head of the religious police since January, announced a reduction in the powers of the Mutawa; they must yield the power to make arrests and interrogations to the normal security forces. Known as a man of broad views, al-Sheikh was chosen by the establishment to improve the reputation of Saudi Mutawa which has fallen sharply after a few agents provoked a fatal accident on the streets of Riyadh in pursuit of a man who had refused to lower the volume of his car radio.
The incident sparked the ire of the population, especially young people, who, seeing as they could not publicly criticize the institution, created groups of protest on Twitter and Facebook . In recent years these social networks have become the only haven of pseudo-freedom in the whaabita regime.
According to experts, the move by al-Sheikh is a sign of greater responsibility by Saudi institutions in recent months he has given a series of interviews to the media to respond to the concerns of the population. He is also working on a new code of conduct for his agents. For decades, the Mutawa have been tasked with enforcing a strict Islamic code which are obligatory even for foreign personnel and companies. Only two weeks after his appointment al-Sheikh banned volunteers among the ranks of the religious police and suspended several officers accused of "excessive zeal" in the application of their duties.
