A senior Saudi judge has warned those who spread rumors about anthrax they will be flogged and jailed after all the alerts reported in the kingdom proved negative, newspapers said Monday, cited by AFP.
The head of Islamic courts in Abha district, 1,000 km (600 miles) southwest of Riyadh, Muzher Al Garni, told Al-Madina daily the penalty would apply even if the rumor was for "fun".
He did not specify the jail term nor the number of lashes.
According to the Islamic Sharia, or law, adopted strictly in Saudi Arabia, spreading rumors is a felony punishable by ta’azeer, which roughly means disciplining. It’s up to the Sharia court judge to decide the type of punishment, which ranges between jail, flogging and fining.
Saudi Arabia has been gripped with numerous bio-terror scare cases all over the vast kingdom to the extent that a special committee was formed by the health ministry to combat anthrax.
The problem with anthrax is that it is enough to send a letter to any person or department with starch or flour inside the envelope to trigger a state of alert.
The ministry of health said in a statement published Monday that all necessary examinations had been carried on suspicious parcels and the results had been negative, according to the agency.
Health Minister Osama Shobokkshi was quoted as saying last week that as many as 27 mail parcels containing white powder were examined for anthrax and initial results had been negative – Albawaba.com
