Dubai: A member of the Omani ruling family was on Monday charged with four counts after allegedly causing the death of a young motorist in a car accident.

In an open hearing attended by journalists, a criminal court in the Seeb district of the capital Muscat laid four charges on a 27-year old member of the country’s ruling family, according to online news site Al Balad.

The death of Emad Al Saifi in late March in an accident allegedly caused by the defendant, who was reported to have been driving drunk, caused a firestorm on social media with Omanis calling for the defendant to be held accountable despite his status.

One of the charges pertains to violation of the traffic law for an illegal overtake that caused the accident that killed Al Saifi. He was also charged with a misdemeanour for resisting public officers, policemen, insulting them and verbally abusing them, as well as disorderly behaviour in a drunken state for trying to flee from the scene and causing a ruckus at the police station.

Al Saifi died within 24 hours of the accident. With him in the car was his friend Humood Al Raqadi, who sustained injuries.

The defendant admitted to trying to flee from the police but denied the specifics about the accident charges. According to Al Balad, he justified insulting the public officer by saying: “My response came as a result of the police officer detaining me in front of people”.

The hearing was attended by members of the ruling family, a representative from an office in charge of ruling family affairs as well as the victim’s relatives, according to the site.

The defendant was released against a “personal guarantee”.

The case was closely followed by Omanis on social media, with many waiting in anticipation ahead of the hearing. Al Shaima Al Raissiyya, member of the municipal council, was particularly active on the issue on social media. She tweeted on March 24, referring to the defendant: “ ... he became angry because he enjoys immunity and thinks it will absolve him of responsibility!”.

Omanis praised the move to charge the member of the ruling family as a testament to the supremacy of the rule of law. Khaled Al Jahwari said on Twitter: “ ... because Oman is a country of institutions and laws. Nobody is above the law”.

Others called on citizens to let justice take its course without jumping to conclusions, saying the courts were competent to handle the case.

Another person with the twitter handle @al_harrasi2010 tweeted: “The Emad Al Saifi case is a test for Oman’s justice system and its media”.

Other publications that covered the case did not refer to the defendant’s status as a member of the ruling family, referring to him simply as “a citizen”.