Saudi religious police say will not interfere with probe of its members

Saudi Arabia’s Commission to Promote Virtue and Prevent Vice will not interfere with a committee investigating five of its members charged with second-degree murder, spokesman Dr Turki al-Shleil told Al Arabiya on Thursday.

The committee has formally charged the defendants with the second-degree murder of two brothers who died during a car chase in Riyadh. A sixth commission member has been acquitted.

The committee comprises representatives from the Bureau of Investigation and Prosecution with the Governorate of Riyadh. The BIP referred the case to the general court in Riyadh on Tuesday.

CPVPV President Dr Abdul-Latif al-Sheikh asked the governor of Riyadh province, Prince Khalid bin Bandar bin Abdulaziz al-Saud, to form the committee to conduct the investigation in a professional and just manner, said Shleil.

The defendants are free to acquire the legal representation they require, he added.

Sheikh has reaffirmed and adopted commission reforms since the incident, such as banning pursuits or prosecution of suspects , and developing 488 programs with an addition of 45 workshops aimed at training 12,200 members on all aspects of administrative and fieldwork ethics.