Rioting workers of Binladen Group sentenced to prison and lashes

JEDDAH: The Saudi Criminal Court in Makkah has sentenced 49 workers found guilty of rioting and damaging public property when employed by the Saudi Binladin Group, Al-Watan reported.
Punishments included prison terms and flogging, according to a verdict delivered to the workers during a hearing that lasted about four hours.
The incidents occurred last year in the workers’ residence in the Umm Al-Katad area, and involved the burning of buses used to transport workers.
Some of the rioters received four months in prison and 300 lashes for their involvement in the riots and damaging public property, in addition to inciting other workers to commit riots. Some other defendants were sentenced to 45 days in jail.
Workers at Saudi Binladin Group, a construction giant, held several sit-ins and waged strikes to protest delays in payment of their salaries for more than a month.
Makkah police and civil defense firefighters managed to put out a blaze started by Binladin workers at their residence in Umm Al-Katad.
Police began investigating, company officials were called, and the authorities coordinated with them to meet the workers’ demands. The instigators and those who were involved in the riots were arrested and brought to trial.
Legal adviser Abdulaziz Al-Harthy said that this verdict reflects the state’s right given that the riots broke the country’s systems. Binladin Group also has the right to file a lawsuit against the workers who damaged its property after the judgment becomes final, he added.