The Jeddah court due to hear the first ever case against a tobacco company in the Kingdom has set a hearing for Feb. 2.
The court will hear a complaint from a Saudi man who has cancer and is seeking compensation of SR10 million.
According to Abdullah Sarouji of the Kafa Society for Awareness of the Harms of Smoking and Drugs, the case was “going well”, and he called upon all persons who have contracted cancer from smoking to support it by similarly prosecuting tobacco companies.
“The man was a businessman but his health and financial conditions have deteriorated due to the costs of treatment,” Sarouji said. “He has had his entire larynx and windpipe removed leaving him without the power of speech.”
He added that tobacco companies were responsible for smokers contracting cancer and said that they are “currently targeting young people”. “Studies of drug abusers also show that cigarette smoking is a step to the use of drugs,” he said.
AHMAD ALI AL-KINANI
Saudi Gazette