Shorts wearers in Saudi Arabia 'warned'

The authorities in Saudi Arabia have warned the public that wearing indecent outfits is punishable by heavy fines.

Wearing shorts in public is a punishable offence in Saudi Arabia, an activist has said. “Above-knee shorts is an outfit deemed outraging public decency,” Badr Al Zayani, an ex-head of the Saudi Public Decorum Society, Thouq, added.

He cited a 2019 law that incorporates penalties for appearing in public places wearing “indecent” attires. “There are many types of shorts. And there are people who do not distinguish between these shorts,” he told Saudi state television Al Ekhbariya.

“There are shorts for playing football, basketball and swimming as well as for walking,” he explained. He urged young people to note that public places are different from beaches. “Public places have their dressing codes,” he said.

In 2019, Saudi authorities started enforcing a law, officially dubbed the Public Decorum Code, promising penalties of fines and imprisonment for public misconduct deemed offensive or dangerous to people.

According to this law, wearing “indecent” outfits or those displaying offensive images, symbols or phrases is punishable by a fine of SR5,000.