The weekend saw a lot of Halloween parties in various cities all over the world. But while partygoers in most places only had to worry about bad traffic flow and drunk club hoppers, several Filipinos had to deal with getting arrested for simply attending an event in a Riyadh resort on Saturday.
Yesterday, the Philippine Embassy in Saudi Arabia posted an advisory on its Facebook page reminding Filipinos not to attend events that are not sanctioned by the Saudi government.
“In addition, everyone is reminded to avoid mixed crowds, consuming liquor, and holding public practice of traditions that are associated with religions other than Islam such as Halloween, Valentine’s, and Christmas,” the advisory reads.
Although it did not mention the incident, the Embassy’s statement came after several social media accounts posted about the arrests.
Saudi authorities reportedly found out about the party after neighbors complained about the noise, ABS-CBN News reported. According to The Philippine Star, one of the Facebook posts about the incident said that some of the partygoers claimed that they did not know the event was Halloween-themed.
In an interview with radio station DZMM, Labor Secretary Silvestre Bello III confirmed that at least 17 OFWs (Overseas Filipino Workers) were arrested. The Philippines’ Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) started investigating the incident after it went viral online.
However, The Philippine Star reported that there were actually 19 Filipino women who were arrested alongside five men from Saudi Arabia, Sudan, Yemen, and Egypt. The report also stated that the women allegedly invited friends through social media to attend the party but Bello told DZMM that they did not organize the event.
In its advisory yesterday, the Philippine Embassy in Saudi Arabia also reminded people not to share things that are prohibited by the Saudi government on social media.
“Finally, the Embassy advises the Filipino community in the Kingdom against producing, spreading, or sharing, electronically or through social media (Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Messenger, WhatsApp, and other social media platforms) anything that compromises public order, religious values, public morals, and privacy, pursuant of the Kingdom’s laws and policies on cybercrimes.”
Saudi’s laws are no joke. Those arrested for the Halloween party could be in jail for no less than a year if charged with immorality or organized witchcraft activity, The Philippine Star reported.
Yes, seriously.
Saudi’s religious police actually has an anti-witchcraft unit and a sorcery hotline people can call, United States publication Foreign Policy reported. In 2011, a Saudi woman named Amina bint Abdul Halim bin Salem Nasser was beheaded for allegedly practicing witchcraft and sorcery.
The extremely religious country also still prohibits women from interacting with men in most public spaces.
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