Main accused detained in civil defence bribery case

The Public Prosecution has ordered to detain an employee in the General Directorate of Civil Defence within the Interior Ministry after being suspected of abusing his authority and receiving a BD2,000 bribe. This was confirmed by Chief Prosecutor Mohammed Jamal Sultan, who confirmed in a press statement that the Prosecution has interrogated the suspect, who confessed to committing the crime.

In the statement, Mr Sultan announced that the Prosecution ordered to detain the suspect for seven days, pending further investigation, adding that relative procedures are being undertaken. According to Mr Sultan’s statement, the case was reported to the Public Prosecution by the General Directorate of Anti-corruption and Economic and Electronic Security, claiming that the suspect, a civilian employee at the General Directorate of Civil Defence, has demanded and received a bribe worth BD2,000 for providing services to a company.

The Chief Prosecutor’s announcement came a few days after the Interior Ministry confirmed the arrest of the suspect. Quoting the Director-General of Anti-Corruption and Economic and Electronic Security, the ministry mentioned that the incident took place on Thursday and that the suspect was arrested red-handed while receiving bribe for providing services related to his job duties. “The department received a tip-off that the suspect had asked for money from a company for a certain service, and an investigation led to his arrest while taking the money,” the ministry said on Thursday. 

HRH the Crown Prince has spearheaded a drive against corruption and to enforce transparency within each and every government department. The directive was announced during a meeting of the Government Executive Committee which reviewed the 2018-2019 National Audit Office (NAO) report and outlined the procedural and administrative measures taken to address the cases of non-compliance.

Ten cases of criminal nature which have been referred to the Public Prosecution include two violations by the Ministry of Information Affairs, three violations by the Ministry of Youth and Sports Affairs, one violation each by Budaiya Cultural Sports Club, Al Najma Sports Club, the University of Bahrain, the Electricity and Water Authority and the Bahrain Petroleum Company (Bapco).

Twenty-six cases will be referred to the Ministerial Committee for Legal and Legislative Affairs, for assessment internal investigation committee while 406 cases of procedural violations will be addressed by administrative measures in order to prevent reoccurrence. HRH the Crown Prince reiterated the importance of swiftly applying these oversight recommendations, especially in cases of non-compliance in order to safeguard public funds.