Saudi Arabia's religious police ordered to be 'gentle'
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The Saudi authorities introduce new regulations to curb the kingdom's notorious religious police force, which is frequently accused of abusing its powers.
BBC News
The Saudi authorities have moved to curb the powers of the notorious religious police, or "mutawa".

Members of the Committee for the Promotion of Virtue and the Prevention of Vice will no longer be permitted to chase suspects or arrest them.

They must instead report observations to security forces personnel.

Religious police officers, who roam the streets enforcing strict standards of social behaviour, are frequently accused of abusing their powers.

Several were reportedly arrested in February for allegedly assaulting, external (YouTube video) a young woman outside a shopping centre in the capital, Riyadh.

In 2013, four officers were accused of causing a fatal car crash when they pursued two brothers who had refused to turn the radio down in their vehicle. However, a court subsequently acquitted them.