Alwaght- Singapore has sentenced a Saudi diplomat to prison and lashes for molesting a hotel intern on Friday.
The Singaporean court has sentenced the diplomat to 26 months in prison and four strikes of canes.
Bander Yahya A Alzahrani, 39, is not protected by diplomatic immunity in Singapore because he was attached to the Royal Embassy of Saudi Arabia in Beijing.
The Saudi diplomat is convicted for a sexual assault he committed on 14 August 2016, when he was on holiday in Singapore with his wife and three children. The court heard that Alzahrani cornered the 20-year-old victim in the bathroom of his Sentosa hotel room, where he sexually assaulted her for about 15 minutes.
Alzahrani was convicted on Wednesday on three counts of sexual assault.
Although she questioned the “wisdom of sending a young female intern, alone, to show a room to a male guest”, Judge Lee commended hotel staff for coaxing the victim into telling them what had happened and for getting the police involved, when the hotel could have “hushed up the matter in favor of their guest”.
Alzahrani will remain in Singapore pending the hearing of his appeal. He is on bail of $20,000.
