Corpun file 16791

WebIndia123.com, 11 October 2005

Pakistanis get prison, lashes over drugs

Riyadh, Saudi Arabia -- A Saudi court sentenced two Pakistani nationals to prison and lashing in public for cultivating hashish, reports said Tuesday.

Daily al-Madina said the court that issued the rulings Monday in Baha in southern Saudi Arabia sentenced one defendant to five years in prison and 4,000 lashes, and the second one to four years and 3,000 lashes.

The two Pakistanis working on a Saudi farm planted 270 seedlings of hashish without the knowledge of the Saudi employer who discovered the illicit crop and alerted police.

(UPI)