Saudi Arabia sentences over dozen more officials to jail for 'corruption'
Saudi Arabian authorities have handed down prison sentences to more than a dozen government officials and employees and companies' managers as part of the kingdom's crackdown on "corruption."
On Tuesday, the Public Prosecution sentenced 18 individuals to a total of 55 years in jail “on charges of corruption.”
They were also ordered to pay hefty fines worth more than 1.066 million US dollars altogether.
The development came less than a week after five Saudi Arabia officials, accused of financial and administrative corruption, were collectively given 32 years in jail by the kingdom's Public Prosecution and were fined a total of 9 million Saudi riyals (around 2.4 million US dollars).
One of the defendants was described as an official accused of receiving bribes, committing forgery, and exploiting his position to achieve personal favors.
He was given a 12-year jail sentence and fined more than one million Saudi riyals (over 266,000 US dollars).
The kingdom’s Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman has vowed to clamp down on "corruption" as he seeks to diversify the economy and make it less dependent on oil.
The ambitious prince used the anti-corruption drive in 2017-18 to detain hundreds of high-profile royals and former state officials critical of his policies.
Since then, Riyadh has stepped up politically-motivated arrests, prosecution and conviction of peaceful dissident writers and human rights campaigners.
Over the past years, Riyadh has also redefined its anti-terrorism laws to target activism.
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