Saudi Public Security fined 16 people 160,000 riyals (about 42,000 dollars) for entering the holy sites without permission. "Sixteen people have violated, during the past seven days, instructions to ensure adherence to precautionary measures and preventive measures taken to tackle the pandemic of the Corona virus, which is emerging in the Hajj season this year," the official Saudi Press Agency (SPA) quoted a Saudi public security spokesman as saying yesterday.
"The penalties established for violations of entry to the holy places - Mina, Muzdalifah, Arafat - were imposed without permission from the competent authority against those violators, by fining each of them 10 thousand riyals."
The agency stated that the spokesman called on all citizens and residents to adhere to the limited Hajj instructions, stressing that "security men impose a tight security cordon on the holy sentiments to implement the instructions and control their violators."
The Kingdom had previously announced that only about a thousand people would be allowed to perform the Hajj this year, but local media reported that the numbers would rise to about 10,000, and this has not been officially confirmed yet.
Saudi Minister of Hajj Muhammad Salih Binten said in press statements that his country decided to establish the pilgrimage season this year "with specific measures, and with a specific number, because it set a priority to protect and preserve the human psyche, and to contribute to the non-transmission of infection between pilgrims in light of the spread of the Corona virus," noting the reception The Kingdom has more than 150 million pilgrims and pilgrims during the past 10 years.
The Saudi minister said in a statement last Friday, "The first decision of the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques, King Salman bin Eid Al-Aziz, that there are no exceptions to this year's pilgrimage, and no official will perform the pilgrimage this year," and indicated that the process of selecting pilgrims took place "with complete transparency." ".
For the first time in modern history, millions of pilgrims from outside Saudi Arabia will not participate in the rites of pilgrimage this year, due to fears of the Corona pandemic, knowing that 2.5 million people performed rituals last year.