Update: Morality laws snare Saudi pop star - Associated Press
DUBAI, United Arab Emirates - Star or not, Saudi Arabia's enforcers of virtue make no exceptions: handshakes and congratulatory kisses in mixed company are a no-no in a public mall.
Religious authorities briefly detained Saudi singer Hisham Abdel Rahman for causing an "indecent scene," a Riyadh police official said Saturday.
The singer gained fame in the Arab world for winning this year's "Star Academy" reality TV show, based on a French program of the same name. The broadcast has the same kind of fan base that makes the U.S. show "American Idol" such a big moneymaker for Fox television.
Male and female fans spotted Abdel Rahman, 24, strolling through Kingdom Tower Mall on Wednesday and rushed to shake his hand and bestow congratulatory kisses, a police official said.
Members of the Committee for the Propagation of Virtue and the Prevention of Vice, the formal name for Saudi Arabia's religious police, doing their regular mall patrol, were offended by the scene, which they deemed improper, the policeman said on condition of anonymity.
The religious police tried to disperse the crowd and told Abdel Rahman to leave the mall, according to local newspaper accounts confirmed by the police official. The young star, however, reportedly refused and started squabbling with the enforcers of virtue.
Abdel Rahman was forcibly escorted out of the mall and taken to religious police offices for questioning. He was held briefly before a senior government official intervened and ordered him freed, the police officer said.
The Lebanese Broadcasting Corp. launched "Star Academy" in December 2003, bringing 16 young Arabs together in a shared house north of Beirut where they could be watched 24 hours a day on satellite TV as they cooked, ate, slept - in sexually segregated quarters - and attended classes in sports, singing, music and dance.
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It is ironic that the closest Arabs come to democracy is Star Academy. So, Hisham is by all means more legitimate than any Arab leader, yet he is the one being harassed and detained. How painful is our reality??!! not to mention disgraceful.
This is so retarded. I can’t believe this kind of thing can still happen. They detained him for gaining popularity? What century do these people live in?
i agree wit this comment
i agree how
painful is it when islam copies a french show and do it here
There is many singers that become pop star without making any troubles or being detained … they were respecting themselves and respecting the place were they’re living …
Also they warn him before, and as you can read he “refused and started squabbling with the enforcers of virtue”…
This have nothing to do with democracy, I know it won’t make happy many but it’s the only country that can take “a correct position” against the “star academy” propaganda ! thanks to God.
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