Okaz/Saudi Gazette JEDDAH — The Bureau of Investigation and Public Prosecution tried a court employee and a lawyer for bribery. A source from the Supreme Judicial Council said the bureau has recordings and photos documenting the illegal exchange between the court employee and the lawyer. "The lawyer had bribed the court employee by giving him donations. The lawyer asked the court employee to support his case in court over the opponent's. The bureau has 19 pieces of evidence documenting the bribery exchange between the court employee and the lawyer," said the source. The source said the lawyer was defending a drug dealing case when another lawyer had filed a lawsuit against him. "The lawsuit was under the supervision of the court employee. The lawsuit was unsettled for three years. The lawyer tipped the court supervisor to settle the lawsuit in his favor. However, the lawyer claims that the court employee sought the bribe," said the source. The source also said the lawyer said the court employee had visited him at his office and asked to look into a case on property settlement. "The lawyer said the case was for a disputed piece of land worth SR40 million. The lawyer said the court employee offered to settle the case in favor of the lawyer in exchange for 20 percent of the profit the lawyer gains," said the source. The source also said the court employee admitted receiving money from the lawyer but claimed that the money received was donations for a charity body the employee is associated with. "The bureau also discovered that the lawyer in question is involved in previous bribery allegations. The lawyer was involved in a bribery case lodged against him by another lawyer four years ago. The case alleges that the lawyer was bribing the public notary who now is an employee at the lawyer's office," said the source. The bribery case with the public notary was never resolved. "The court employee previously stated that the lawyer had given him SR20,000 and free legal consultancy sessions. The lawyer denied the allegations and the court employee retracted his statement later on," said the source.
