Dozens of foreign workers have been sentenced to flogging and jail in Saudi over unpaid wages protest

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RIYADH: Dozens of foreign workers have been sentenced to flogging and jail for unrest during protests over unpaid wages by Saudi Binladin Group several months ago, reports said on Tuesday.

Al-Watan newspaper and Arab News did not give the nationalities of the 49 workers, and foreign embassy staff contacted by AFP could not immediately provide details. Al-Watan, which has followed the Binladin case since early last year, said an unidentified number were sentenced to four months’ jail and 300 lashes for destroying public property and inciting unrest. Others were jailed for 45 days by the court in Makkah.

Construction sector workers, chiefly at the Binladin Group and another fi rm Saudi Oger, were left waiting for salaries after a collapse in oil revenues left the kingdom unable to pay private fi rms it had contracted. Arab News reported in May that “unpaid workers” had torched several Binladin Group buses in Makkah. Authorities confi rmed at the time that seven buses were burned but did not give the cause. A Saudi Binladin Group spokesman could not be reached on Tuesday. (AFP)

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