SAUDI ARABIA: JAIL, 99 LASHES FOR 7 SAUDI MEN CAUGHT AT MIXED PARTY WITH ALCOHOL

January 7, 2014: A Saudi court sentenced seven men to long jail terms and ordered them lashed 99 times each in front of a girls’ college after they were caught at a mixed party with alcohol in the conservative Gulf Kingdom, a newspaper said.
Police raided a rest house in the western Saudi town of Taif and arrested seven men and 15 university girls for staging a mixed party and having alcohol.
The court sentenced the two “organisers” of the party to 20 months in prison and ordered them lashed 99 times each in front of the Taif girls’ college.
The court also sentenced the other five young men to eight months in jail and ordered them lashed 99 times each at the same place.
Sabq did not say whether the female college students were punished but Saudi authorities have handed girls to their families in previous similar cases. (Source: Emirates 24/7, 07/01/2014)