Morality Cop PR

Apparently the popular outcry against Saudi Arabia's mutawwa is having some effect. The Commission for the Promotion of Virtue and Prevention of Vice is establishing a new legal department to handle lawsuits against it:

"The Commission for the Promotion of Virtue and Prevention of Vice, (the mutawa or morality police) in Saudi Arabia, has decided to establish a legal department and appoint lawyers, the Commission's chief said.

"This has been done to tackle increasing number of cases filed by the public against its members...

"The performance of the mutawa has come under fierce attack in the local press in the past few years with columnists calling for an end to what they call the Commission's excessive use of its unlimited authority.

"The Commission blamed the media of biased reporting of stories related to the performance of its personnel, and accused the media of exaggerating stories and news to incite the public against it."

(Crossposted to American Footprints)