JEDDAH/RIYADH: Around 20 government employees and contractors investigated for their roles in the Jeddah floods case have been charged and their files referred to the Board of Grievances, the Administrative Court, prior to the trials in Riyadh and Jeddah, it is learnt. According to sources in the judiciary,charges against those referred to court Wednesday range from bribery, forgery, illegal profiting from a public post, abuse of power, deception and breach of trust. “Some of those suspects' charges are related to inordinate delays and poor execution of projects and some of them were charged with violations that have no direct connection to the disaster,” a source said. Other suspects are still being investigated and a new group is expected to be referred to court after the list of charges against each of them is completed, the sources added. The suspects are entitled to recruit lawyers to defend them and answer the charges. The November 2009 disaster killed 123 people and damaged around 5,800 cars and other property.
