http://www.independent.co.uk/news/w...rrested-for-giving-out-free-hugs-8953720.html
A man who decided to offer free hugs in Saudi Arabias capital Riyadh has been arrested by the states religious police.
21-year-old Al-Khayyal announced on Twitter that he was going to offer free hugs in Tahliya, one of the main shopping streets.
However the two men were arrested and their free hugs banners seized, CNN Arabic reported.
Members of the Commission for the Promotion of Virtue and Prevention of Vice arrested the two men in Riyadh for violating local laws and engaging in exotic practices, Al Hayat newspaper said. They were then made to sign a pledge that they would not go out again.
Despite this, al-Khayyal told The Independent that he would continue to give out free hugs and he was proud of what he had done. He said he considered it an act of charity.
They [religious police] have come under heavy criticism in the past, most notably in March 2002, when they prevented schoolgirls from escaping a burning school in Mecca because they were not wearing headscarves and abayas (black robes) and accompanied by a male guardian. Fifteen girls died and 50 were injured as a result.