Justice Minister Walid Al-Samaani

Justice Minister Walid Al-Samaani and Khaled Al-Muhaisin, the president of the National Anti-Corruption Commission (Nazaha), are scheduled to meet soon to clear resolve differences between Nazaha and Supreme Judicial Council (SJC).

According to local media, Nazaha said that its realm of authority includes following up on the work of all government bodies, including the judiciary. However, the SJC has insisted that the anti-corruption body has no authority over such matters.

Nazaha recently issued a statement saying that media reports on the sale of random schemes affiliated with Al-Mazahimiya led to the halt of deeds issued by the notary. A letter was written to the Bureau of Investigation and Public Prosecution to expand its investigation with employees of the notary branches, the Ministry of Agriculture, Ministry of Electricity and other relevant government bodies in Al-Mazahimiya.

“Since Nazaha is authorized with monitoring what is published in the media about issues related to corruption, it has assigned its representatives to remain in the location in question, after investigating the published material in local newspapers about the sale of schemes in Al-Jallah and Tibrak of Al-Mazahimiya,” Abdulrahman bin Ahmad Al-Ajlan, the spokesman of Nazaha, was quoted as saying by a local newspaper.

“Nazaha filed its notes with the Minister of Interior and suggested the formation of a committee from the Riyadh governorate and Ministries of Agriculture, Water and Electricity and Justice to investigate the matter. They also recommended the verification of the ownership of those who claim it, and recommended the removal of any transgression regarding the state’s properties. The committee should then notify the commission of the results of the investigation,” he said.

He said that the Minister of Interior issued a directive to form a committee and verify the existence of administrative corruption among the notaries of Al-Mazahimiya, such as taking registers of the notaries to their homes to organize agricultural schemes.

Around 800 illegal deeds were found in a single day, and the matter has been referred to the authorities for investigation with the involved employees, and all relevant ministries.

The Al-Qoweiya governor will be assigned to remove all of the boxes placed in the locations in question, and to suspend all sales until the case is over.

Al-Ajlan said that Nazaha wishes to clarify this in order to stress the principle of transparency, protect integrity and fight corruption.

The SJC refused to allow Nazaha to practice control over judges in corruption cases, saying that it is not authorized to do this. The council reiterated that it is the only body that is authorized to monitor, but granted Nazaha the right to follow up on corruption cases in which employees might be involved, only under the supervision of a specialized judicial body.

Sheikh Salman bin Mohammad Al-Nashwan, official spokesman for SJC, was quoted as saying that the separation of responsibilities is to enhance the principle of freedom of the judiciary and ensure that authorities are not interrelated.

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