JEDDAH: Two employees of the Health Specialties Council have been fined and jailed by the 11th Punitive Circuit at the Administrative Court in the Eastern Province for accepting bribes from an Arab doctor in return for issuing him a health classification certificate. The circuit's judge sentenced the two employees each to three months in prison and fines of SR10,000. The verdicts were declared final and irrevocable because the date for an appeal had passed. The prosecutor, according to the charge sheet, argued that the two employees had worked together to issue the classification health certificate. It was argued that the first defendant asked the freelance Arab doctor SR60,000 to finalize the procedures, claiming that this was part of his job responsibilities. The first defendant had promised his colleague, the second defendant, a reward if he helped to issue the certificate. He did not specify the nature of the reward. The second employee then completed the necessary formalities, in anticipation of a reward. The prosecutor argued that the second defendant was an accomplice to the crime because he had completed the procedures in return for some form of compensation. They were caught red-handed and were charged with having received a bribe by the Bureau of Control and Investigation (BCI). The BCI documented their confession in court. The investigations carried out by the BCI showed that the first defendant offered his accomplice half of the bribe. This testimony was supported by an audio recording made by the Administrative Intelligence. In court, the first defendant admitted to his crime but the second defendant alleged that his confession was extracted from him under duress and also claimed that the certificate was issued by another employee. The first defendant expressed his regret and appealed to the court for leniency because he is the only breadwinner in a family consisting of his two ailing parents and 13 sisters and brothers. The court went by the legal principle that a confession is the ultimate form of evidence and proceeded to fine and jail the two.
