The Saudi justice system is notoriously unfair but it is especially unfair where non-Saudis from the poorer countries are concerned.

One illustration of the problem comes from a report in Arab News, where the kingdom's prisons chief, Major-General Ali al-Harithy, is quoted as saying that almost all female prisoners are foreigners serving time for "moral" violations.

Harithy refuses to say how many women are imprisoned in the kingdom, but says that Saudi women account for only 3% of them.

Posted by Brian Whitaker, 13 March 2011.