Saudi court orders 4 partying youths to dig graves, visit ICU

A Saudi court has ordered four persons, including two women, to dig graves and visit ICU patients after they were caught singing and dancing together at a wild party in the Gulf kingdom, according to a report.
The Criminal Court in Jeddah ordered the two women to visit 10 patients at an intensive care unit of a government hospital, while the two young men will be digging five graves, Arab News reported.
The prosecutor has decided to challenge the verdict.
A number of judges across the country now prefer issuing alternative sentences, or non-jail sentences.
Judge Yasser Al-Balawi at the criminal court in Tabuk is well-known for such sentences and describes this approach as a means of sparing the guilty and their families of the negative impact as a result of jail sentences.

The report says application of such alternative sentences during the Haj season is in place, and there is an objection to replacing harsher penalties with community-based penalties.
The application of these sentences is up to the circuit judge who decides what is appropriate in each case.