Ibrahim Alawi

Okaz/Saudi Gazette

 

JEDDAH – The Administrative Court in Jeddah on Thursday acquitted nine defendants in a bribery case related to the devastating floods that hit the city in November 2009.



The defendants included people who held key positions in the municipality before they were suspended from office and a Yemeni expatriate. They were charged with accepting bribes, abuse of power and helping people involved in the case out of the way.



The court had sent the case file back to the Bureau of Investigation and Public Prosecution to complete some aspects of the investigation.



The first defendant said the money he took from another person was a loan, which he paid back. He also denied helping the Yemeni expatriate to obtain aerial pictures, saying he had only directed the expatriate to the archives department in the municipality.



He insisted that he had no personal relations with the expatriate. He argued that while in office many people approached him asking for directions every day. He said investigating officers had extorted his confessions under duress.



He also denied knowing some of the defendants in the case though one of them worked with him in the same office. He said he did not engage in any trading activity except that he had supervised his elderly father’s business.



The charges against the rest of the defendants included giving bribes, meddling in official matters, receiving bribes and abuse of power, but they all denied charges.



The judge dropped all charges against eight defendants but sentenced the first defendant for engaging in business activity despite being a government employee. He was fined SR10,000.