Saudi king ordered the arrest of a country's prince Thursday after a series of viral videos showed him assaulting at least four Saudi residents, according to Saudi media outlets.
The arrest was made Wednesday morning, a day after a video was published on YouTube showing victims being beaten up or verbally abused allegedly by Prince Saud bin Abdulaziz bin Musaed bin Saud bin Abdulaziz al-Saud and what appears to be a rifle pointed toward a man who is bleeding from the head and pleading. It also shows 18 bottles of Johnnie Walker Red Label whisky displayed on a table and a wad of cash. The sale and consumption of alcohol in Saudi Arabia is forbidden.
Among the victims were a Yemeni origin man and two females.
It remains unclear exactly when the incidents took place, but it appears that most of the footage came from Saudi capital of Riyadh and were posted online on Wednesday.
"Saudi King Salman bin Abdul Aziz al-Saud has issued immediate arrest warrant for Prince Saud bin Abdulaziz bin Musaed bin Saud bin Abdulaziz Al Saud and the imprisonment of all those who participated with him in this abusive behavior towards our citizens, " the Saudi-owned Al Arabiya news channel said on its website.
The royal order said "testimonies of victims as well as violators will be heard and recorded as part of judicial purposes", it said.
The Saudi king said "those who commit such crimes against citizens will be arrested and tried under the Sharia law", it added.
Another subsequent video seen nearly a quarter-million times purports to show the young, low-level prince, dressed in a black t-shirt and grey sweatpants, handcuffed and with his feet chained being escorted into a building by security officers.
This is not the first time the Saudi kingdom has acted against members of the royal family who committed crimes.
On Nov. 2, 2016, a Saudi prince was punished by getting flogged, in accordance with a court order. This came two weeks after another prince was executed on October 18, 2016 after he was convicted of killing a citizen in December 2012.
