Online criminals risk jail sentences, fines

RIYADH: Criminals who break Internet laws could face 12-month jail sentences, fines of around SR50,000, or both, said Soroor Mohammad Al-Abdulwahab of the Bureau of Investigation and Public Prosecution (BIPP). Al-Abdulwahab made the comments while delivering a paper at a three-day conference on combating cybercrime. The event, which is being held at Riyadh’s Al-Faisalia Hotel and which ended on Wednesday, was organized by BIPP in cooperation with Naif Arab University for Security Sciences. Al-Abdulwahab said the above punishments could be increased if the crime is committed by an organized gang, or if a perpetrator abuses his authority or influence in corrupting minors. Al-Abdulwahab also detailed 16 articles of a law created by Royal Decree over two years ago to combat online crime. These articles include the listening or accessing of illegal material by e-mail or via a website, using the net to threaten or blackmail someone, invasion of privacy, defamation, theft, Internet hacking, and distribution of pornography, terrorism-related material and data that could adversely affect the Kingdom’s security or economy. He also said that the authorities need to uphold suspects’ human dignity when arresting them, and not to physically or morally harm them, adding that people arrested should be given the right to contact a lawyer and told why they are being arrested. Meanwhile, Dr. Ibrahim Abdullah Al-Howaimel, deputy president of the Commission for the Promotion of Virtue and the Prevention of Vice, said that, according to the commission’s experience, mixed-working environment is the cause of most cases of women being blackmailed, and that this is one of the negative effects of the Internet. Runar Dominic from the French Ministry of Interior talked about computer- related crimes on the second day of the forum. Dr. Mohamed Abdul Karim Abdullah, an international expert and legal adviser to the United Nations, talked about the use of computers in money laundering. The third session on the second day included a lecture by Patrick Carney, entitled “Information Crimes Worldwide”. Syed Noor Al-Hussein from Pakistan’s Ministry of Defense shed light on “international experience in combating computer-related crimes.” — With input from Rodolfo Estimo Jr.