A sentence of flogging and imprisonment imposed by a court on a Saudi academic has been quashed by the kingdom's de facto ruler, Crown Prince Abdullah bin Abdul Aziz, a newspaper reported on Monday.
Hamza al-Muzaini, a lecturer in linguistics at Kind Saud University, was sentenced on Saturday to a total of 200 lashes and four months imprisonment and was banned from publishing for insulting an Islamist colleague.
He immediately appealed and said that under the law, the information ministry, not a court, should handle the matter.
Crown Prince Abdullah issued a decree on Sunday which quashed the court verdict as it "contradicted the law of publications", the Saudi-owned Al-Hayat reported.
The law stipulates that the ministry of information is the only party entrusted with handling cases involving disputes related to publishing, the London-based daily said.
A royal court has now appointed a committee to "implement the publications law, which dictates that cases involving publication (offences) should not be referred to (normal Islamic) courts," said Al-Hayat on Sunday.
Muzaini was accused by Abdullah al-Barak, a lecturer of Islamic culture at the same university, of defamation and insult.
Claiming it was a personal matter which should be dealt with by a normal court, Barak reportedly accused Muzaini of "mocking long beards" and questioning his knowledge in an article published a few months ago.