Celebrations of the New Year, birthdays and marriage anniversary are un-Islamic
A foreign resident in Saudi Arabia was arrested by the country's religious police on New Year's Eve for displaying balloons to celebrate the new year, the daily news website Sabq reported.
According to the report, the man – described as an Arab expatriate living in the country – was arrested as he was walking though the streets in violation of the ban of celebrating the New Year in the ultra-conservative Gulf kingdom.
In December, Sheikh Abdel Aziz bin Abdullah, the country's top Muslim cleric, deemed celebrations of the New Year, birthdays and marriage anniversary un-Islamic.
The arrest highlights the ongoing conservatism in the country, and comes after religious police have been cracking down on citizens for breaking "un-Islamic" laws in the country.
Late last year, a report published by a leading Islamic scholar in the country warned that if women were given the right to drive it would lead to the end of virginity in the country, angering many activists who have called for greater freedoms in the country.
"We have been fighting for our rights and these continued arrests show we have not gotten very far," said Mona Abdullah Aziz, a 24-year-old Saudi activist living in Dubai. She told Bikyamasr.com that "the way the government arrests people, men and women, for wanting to live their lives is wrong on all levels - bikyamasr.com