Shoura members oppose jail terms for debtors

JEDDAH: Some Shoura members have called for canceling jail sentences imposed on people who were unable to pay their debts because of financial difficulties.

They argued that imprisoning someone because of debt was against Shariah law and international charters.

However, the Shoura members unanimously agreed on punishing those who delay in paying their debts and stash their money in offshore accounts or indulge in other deceptive practices.

They believed that the release of debtors would enable them to work and pay their debts. On the other hand, imprisonment will make them a burden on the state, they added. In this respect, they cited the case of a person who was jailed for not paying SR12,000 and the government had to spend SR500,000 on him.

“Scholars have said that to imprison a person who cannot fulfill his contract terms is not permissible,� Shoura member Muhammad Al-Edrissi told Al-Riyadh Arabic daily.

“The International Charter of Human Rights also does not allow the arrest of an insolvent person,� he added.

“It is not allowed to imprison a person if he is declared bankrupt by a court,� he said quoting the Arab Human Rights Charter. “A creditor has the right on the wealth of the debtor not on his person.�

Al-Edrissi called for the establishment of cooperative societies to pay debts of deserving persons, who were not involved in any criminal or fraudulent activities, adding that such insolvent persons deserved payment from Zakah.

The Shoura members advocated jail terms of up to seven years for those not implementing a court’s verdict on debts, found to have stashed away money in banks abroad or those who refuse to provide information about their wealth.

In a related development, Maj. Gen. Ali Al-Harithy, director general of prisons, announced his department’s plan to open 34 reformatories in various parts of the Kingdom. “We have already called for tenders to establish seven,� he said.

He said industrial cities would be established at every reformatory to help inmates work there and earn money.

P.K. Abdul Ghafour | Arab News