Friday, December 14, 2012
MAKKAH - Makkah General Court on Wednesday refused to authenticate the confessions of a man who killed two people at a local mosque in Makkah's Al-Ghassalah district on Monday because he was under the influence of medication when his statement was being taken, Al-Madinah newspaper reported on Thursday.
It said the court referred the defendant back to the police station in the Al-Maabdah district ahead of a second hearing on Saturday.
The court wrote an official letter to the Prosecution and Investigations Commission (PIC) with a copy to the police to detain the defendant until he was brought again to the court to document his confessions.
During interrogations at the PIC, the man confessed to his crime but as he was mostly incoherent the commission decided to take him to the hospital to give him some sedatives.
According to sources close to the police, the defendant might be taken to the mental hospital to examine his state of mind, especially as his relatives claimed that he had been suffering from psychotic episodes recently.
However, lawyer and legal consultant Rayan Al-Mufti said in many instances a mentally-ill offender would be held responsible for his actions.
He said: "A mental illness does not absolve a criminal of the public or private rights of others."
Meanwhile, Sheikh Musaab Bin Hassan Al-Hajjagi, director of endowments in Makkah, said supervisors in charge of the mosque could not stop the man from killing his two victims.
He said: "All in all we have about 50 supervisors in the entire region.
Each one of them is responsible for supervising from 30 to 50 mosques.
"Under these circumstances, they are not able to do their jobs properly."
He called for armed guards to look after mosques.
© The Saudi Gazette 2012
