JEDDAH – The Third Penal Circuit at the Administrative Court in Jeddah is looking into charges filed by Control and Investigation Board (CIB) against a government employee for using a Toyota Lexus car of a government employee who has been sentenced to death. The CIB accused the official of illegally using the vehicle for personal purposes for a whole year. Appearing in the court of Sheikh Dr. Saad Al-Malki, President of the Third Penal Circuit here Monday, the accused denied the charges against him. He said the Saudi car owner was arrested on charges of smuggling and dealing in drugs. The car was impounded in northern Jeddah. Soon after, the accused said, there were reports that the drug network of the arrested man wanted the impounded car to be taken out. The director of his administration, he said, issued directives to tow away the car from the impoundment area under his responsibility. He said the vehicle was not moved from its place except for the need to change its parking space or to allow passage of another car due to the narrow space in the parking lot. At this point, the judge asked the defendant why he had driven the car outside the area. The accused maintained that he drove the vehicle from the impoundment area in northern Jeddah and handed it over to the administration's impoundment area. After this his responsibility was over, he said. The judge summoned two of his colleagues as eyewitnesses, who said the Toyota Lexus car was in the impoundment area and the defendant took delivery of the vehicle. The accused acknowledged that he received the car but said he handed it over to the administration immediately. “I don't know anything about it after that. I never used the car for my personal purposes,” he said. However, the company that imported the car said on checking the vehicle, it was found to have been repaired four times during the period of its impoundment. The judge referred the statements of the accused to the CIB for reply in the upcoming session.
