JEDDAH — The Administrative Court here on Monday adjourned the case involving two Commission for the Promotion of Virtue and Prevention of Vice (the Hai'a) staffers who were accused of beating up a youth opposite a mall in the southern part of the city. The case was adjourned for lack of witnesses. The Hai'a staffers, as per the charges leveled against them by the Control and Investigations Board (CIB), forced the Saudi national to stop his car near the mall and asked for his papers. Before the young man could respond, the Hai'a members started beating him up mercilessly. The youth, the prosecution said, suffered several bruises and scratches while his clothes were torn due to the scuffle. In another session, a Jeddah Municipality employee (the first defendant) stood trial on charges of receiving a bribe of SR5,000. The employee denied the charges and alleged that some vested interests were plotting against him for unknown reasons. He said there was a contradiction between the statements of the second and third defendants. This is what his lawyer also pointed out in the session Monday. Denying all charges against him, the municipality employee said he never asked for nor received any bribe from the second and third defendants. He said he works in the area where the warehouse of the two defendants is located. However, his work involves a 9-member committee. He stressed that the rest of the committee members cannot be involved or be convinced regarding the charges leveled against him. This is unacceptable, he emphasized. He said he has been living in a state of shock from the day when a police officer took him from his place of work for investigations. The municipality employee also denied the charge leveled by other defendants that he closed down the warehouse and then opened it two days later after receiving the bribe. He said he was on leave during the said period and presented the proof in that regard. The judge called the second defendant but he was absent. Then the third defendant, a Yemeni national, was called. He said he works in the warehouse which was closed down. He admitted handing over SR5,000, which he thought was a fine for a violation. He said he did not know it was a bribe. The judge asked the third defendant whether there was any fine that is paid in this way on the street. The third defendant said he did not know about the matter until after three months of the incident. He said he was shocked that he has been charged with giving a bribe. After a recess, the judge adjourned the case.
