Saudi king orders prince's arrest for multiple assaults

By Ahmed al-Masri

DOHA, Qatar (AA) - Saudi authorities ordered the arrest of a Saudi prince on Thursday after a series of viral videos showed him assaulting at least four Saudi residents, according to Saudi media outlets.

The videos shared widely on social networking sites such as Youtube show victims being beaten up or verbally abused allegedly by Prince Saud bin Abdulaziz bin Musaed bin Saud bin Abdulaziz al-Saud.

Among the victims were a Yemeni origin man and two females.

It remains unclear exactly when the incidents took place, but it appears that most of the footage came from Saudi capital of Riyadh and were posted online on Wednesday.

“Saudi King Salman bin Abdul Aziz al-Saud has issued immediate arrest warrant for Prince Saud bin Abdulaziz bin Musaed bin Saud bin Abdulaziz Al Saud and the imprisonment of all those who participated with him in this abusive behavior towards our citizens, " the Saudi-owned Al Arabiya news channel said on its website on Thursday.

The royal order said “testimonies of victims as well as violators will be heard and recorded as part of judicial purposes”, it said.

The Saudi king said "those who commit such crimes against citizens will be arrested and tried under the Sharia law”, it added.

This is not the first time the Saudi kingdom has acted against members of the royal family who committed crimes.

On Nov. 2, 2016, a Saudi prince was punished by getting flogged, in accordance with a court order. This came two weeks after another prince was executed on October 18, 2016 after he was convicted of killing a citizen in December 2012.