Saudi Gazette report JEDDAH — The administrative court in Jeddah will next month announce its preliminary ruling against 15 people accused of trying to deceive the government over the number of overstaying Umrah pilgrims in the Kingdom. The defendants, consisting of four government employees and 11 businessmen working in Umrah service-providing companies, were charged with forgery and accepting bribes and will be sentenced on Jan. 2. The Bureau of Investigations and Public Prosecution (BIP) had accused the 15 defendants of accepting bribes and forging official documents by registering in official records the departure of a number of Umrah pilgrims even though they were still in the Kingdom. Quoting court sources, Al-Madinah newspaper reported on Monday that the incident took place during the Umrah season of 1432H. The government employees were also accused of ignoring their duties by letting the businessmen write in the registry that a number of Umrah pilgrims had already left the country when in fact they did not. The sources said the businessmen did this so their companies would give the impression they had a small number of overstaying pilgrims and avoid Haj Ministry punishments including cancellation of their licenses or fines. According to the court sources, the defendants each face up to 12 years in prison and heavy fines. Commenting on the case, legal consultant Ahmed Al-Ghamdi said the attorney general would have to object to the court verdict within 30 days otherwise the preliminary ruling would become final. "If there is an objection to the verdict by the attorney general the case will be forwarded to the court of appeals to consider it from the beginning," he said. Al-Ghamdi said the verdict is final if the court of appeals upheld the preliminary ruling of the administrative court.
