RIYADH, June 27, 2007 (AFP) - A member of Saudi Arabia's powerful vice police has been accused of causing the death of a man during a raid on his home, media reports said on Wednesday.
The Commission for the Promotion of Virtue and Prevention of Vice employee is accused of causing the death of Suleiman al-Kharisi in May, said a statement from the Riyadh municipality printed in several newspapers.
The municipality had earlier said the accused employee was a paid informer rather than a full member of the commission, which is also known as the Muttawa and has come under criticism for alleged heavy-handedness.
Kharisi's home in the capital was stormed by the Muttawa after they suspected him of distributing alcohol, which is illegal in the ultra-conservative Muslim kindgom.
The municipality said the accused Muttawa employee was only sanctioned to carry out office-based duties and should not have taken part in the raid.
The Okaz newspaper said the unnamed employee struggled with Kharisi during the raid but he denied he had caused the man's death.
A police investigation cleared a further 18 Muttawa officers of causing Kharisi's death.
The trial of four Muttawa officers over the death of a man in their custody in the northeastern city of Tabuk was due to begin on Saturday, but was adjourned to an unknown date due to incomplete legal documents.
The Muttawa have also faced investigation in the Mecca region after an Asian woman fell to her death from the fourth floor of a building that was stormed by religious police last month.
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