Coronavirus: Saudi Arabia shames lockdown violators with viral video

Police say brazen breakers of the kingdom's restrictions are filming themselves to garner attention

Deserted streets in Riyadh - the kingdom has imposed a curfew until further notice as it tries to stem the spread of the coronavirus. Reuters

What do a group of drunkards firing guns in the air, men waiting for a haircut, and a driver stuffing a living passenger in his car’s trunk have in common?

They are all people brazenly defying Saudi Arabia’s coronavirus containment orders by filming themselves breaking the measures and posting the footage on social media, Saudi police said.

The kingdom’s General Directorate of Public Security uploaded the footage on its Twitter account to demonstrate the long arm of the law, saying police had arrested all of the violators who have a penchant for self-promotion.

The footage shows men “gloating that they are breaking the lockdown by drinking alcohol and firing guns randomly”. Their faces are pixelated out. Police did not disclose their location.

The driver who stuffed his passenger in the trunk and filmed the process picked him up using a ride app, the police said. The barber featured in another section of the video “was practicing his profession at his home,” which still violated the coronavirus measures.

Other footage shows a car speeding along a highway with its license plate removed to show how far the passengers can go in “flaunting” the lockdown.

Bans on movement were imposed across the kingdom a month ago but officials say they are being widely ignored, with a significant proportion of traffic still on the streets.

The authorities recorded 73 deaths from the coronavirus and at least registered 5,369 cases up to Wednesday, the highest toll in the GCC.

The same official video, which was retweeted by the Interior Ministry, shows a man drinking what he describes as radiator water.

He was also arrested, police said, although the arrest appeared unrelated to the coronavirus precautions.