20 sentenced for attending party

A Saudi Arabian judge sentenced 20 foreigners to lashings and several months in prison after convicting them of attending a party where alcohol was served and men and women danced, a newspaper reported.

The defendants were among 433 foreigners, including 240 women, arrested by the kingdom’s religious police for attending the party in Jidda, the state-guided newspaper Okaz said. It did not identify the foreigners, give their nationalities or say when the party took place.

The paper said the rest of those arrested were awaiting trial.

Saudi Arabia’s religious police enjoy wide powers, roaming malls, markets, universities and other public places looking for violations of the kingdom’s strict interpretation of Islamic law.