Saudi Gazette report JEDDAH — Specialists here have acknowledged that the judiciary and numerous other government authorities are suffering due to a large number of unfounded corruption cases and complaints. They pointed out that despite directives from the Council of Ministers and executive directives by the Ministry of Interior to deal firmly with these complaints, judicial institutions and other government authorities did not handle them appropriately. They said that these reports usually turn into long-winded cases involving much paperwork. A spokesman for the National Anti-Corruption Commission (Nazaha) pointed out earlier that the commission received numerous false reports that aim to harm government authorities and employees. He said Nazaha has proved the falsity of the reports and referred them to the respective governorates so they could take action against the complainants. He added a good percentage of these reports had been found to be untrue. Aql Al-Bahili, a rights activist, told Al-Riyadh daily that the measures taken to tackle corruption, especially in the Third World, are usually focused on stopping such practices, injustice or embezzlement of public funds. However, an increasing number of people are falling victim to miscarriages of justice when they are accused of corruption, he said. Al-Bahili added that when matters became worse Nazaha was set up to deal with the situation. He said there was no mechanism on how to report corruption. He said: “Defending public funds and people's interests should not cause grievances for others. “Attempts to stop the thefts should not lead us after some time to feel that there are victims of this regulation. “The reports received by Nazaha are in thousands because we are very late in monitoring public funds, projects and corrupt people.” Al-Bahili called on Nazaha and other concerned authorities to carry out awareness campaigns outlining steps for members of the public to report corruption. Majed Qaroub, a lawyer, said the judiciary and the different government authorities are suffering due to the large number of questionable reports and complaints. He further said despite directives from higher authorities including the Council of Ministers and the Ministry of Interior, there was no adequate response from judicial and other government authorities. Qaroub said these complaints usually end up in no action being taken. He said the reason for this is the weak human rights culture and lack of professionalism when dealing with such cases.
