Saudi Arabia’s security chief Tuesday warned his officers that they would face tough punishment if they abuse people and misuse their power, Arab News reported yesterday.

“We won’t show any leniency toward such officers,” local newspapers quoted Lt. Gen. Saeed Al-Qahtani, director general of public security, as saying in Riyadh on Monday. “If security officers are found mistreating individuals or misusing their power they will be given the toughest punishment.”

Qahtani said thousands of security-related activities take place daily. “There are at least 30,000 operations including arrests of thieves and wanted criminals. Excesses might take place during these huge number of operations. Nobody denies this fact as security officers are not angels,” he said. “We’ll take strong action against every security person who was found deliberately causing harm to anybody and we’ll not show any leniency in protecting the rights of citizens and residents.”

Qahtani’s statement came as the Court of Grievances in Al-Jouf sentenced five officers of the anti-drug department to 18 months in prison after being convicted of abusing their power and allegedly beating a Saudi citizen to death.

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