MAKKAH: Makkah police have arrested 13 people for celebratory gunfire and referred them to the Saudi Bureau of Investigation and Public Prosecution for trial.
Arab News’ sources said the group had been heralding a friend’s release from prison after serving a sentence for a crime committed in Tufail. They did not resist arrest.
Makkah police spokesman, Maj. Mohammed Abdelwahab Al-Ghamdi, said the arrests were made following a video clip on social media that showed people using machine guns for celebratory gunfire in a village in Al-Lith governorate.
Al-Ghamdi said the 13 were Saudi citizens in their thirties and forties. The person filming them was also arrested.
This crime is punishable by Saudi law with up to a one-year prison sentence, in addition to a financial penalty.
Dr. Mohammed Mahmoud, Legal adviser
Legal adviser Dr. Mohammed Mahmoud said celebratory gunfire was a crime, according to a ministerial decree issued in 2014, and that the act endangered people’s lives and properties.
“This crime is punishable by Saudi law with up to one year prison sentence, in addition to a financial penalty,” he told Arab News.
