Saudi health worker fined for playing prayer call on phone
Health officials in Saudi Arabia have fined a female health staffer for playing the Shia prayer call on her mobile phone.
According to a Monday report on the website of the Manama Post, an Arabic newspaper published in Bahrain, the Department for Health Affairs in Saudi Arabia’s Eastern Province has stripped a Shia employee working in the Maternity and Children Hospital in the city of Dammam of a full month's salary after she reportedly played the Shia prayer call on her mobile phone.
An image of the paycheck of the health staffer, identified as Abrar al-Assif, was released in the report with a box showing that the monthly salary had been forfeited “due to the Shia prayer call being played on the mobile phone.”
The incident came reportedly months ago with the date on the paycheck showing it was close to the holy month of Ramadan, although it went viral on the Internet on Sunday.
Many on the social media expressed deep anger at the decision, saying it is proof of the kingdom’s violation of human rights.
Assif reportedly did not protest the decision out of fear that she may lose her job.
The Sunni-ruled Saudi Arabia has a minority Shia population in its eastern regions. The community has launched protests and demonstrations over the past four years demanding more of a say in the political system and more freedom for its members to practice their religion.
Courts in the kingdom have also handed down death sentences to senior Shia activists, including Ayatollah Sheikh Nimr al-Nimr, who faces capital punishment despite strong criticism of the decision by governments and international organizations.
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