50 lashes for smoker on Saudia Arabian Airlines..

November 3, 2008 - The Summary Court in the Eastern Province has sentenced a man to 50 lashes for smoking on board non-smoking Saudi Arabian Airlines (SAA) flight from Dammam to Riyadh. The man kept puffing his cigarette ignoring repeated warnings from flight attendants to stop. His smoking also set off the smoke alarm, causing panic among passengers. When the flight landed at King Khaled International Airport in Riyadh, flight security staff handed the man over to the authorities.

In 1999, SAA banned smoking on its flights between the Kingdom and the GCC states (Gulf Cooperation Council includes: Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Bahrain, Qatar, the United Arab Emirates, and the Sultanate of Oman) and other Middle Eastern and African countries. The ban on smoking on SAA’s domestic flights took effect in 1987. – Okaz

Reference: 50 lashes for smoker on Saudia by Abdulhadi Al-Ismai, Saudi Gazette, 11/3/2008.

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