Saudi authorities freed 23 powerful individuals arrested on corruption charges after settlement with Govt

Riyadh December 27: The authorities of Saudi Arabia on Tuesday freed 23 of the 200-or-so powerful individuals who were arrested since November this year on corruption charges after they reached deals with the government.

 

According to the reports by local media of Saudi Arabia, the authorities freed 23 of the 200-or-so powerful individuals who were arrested since November this year in on corruption charges after they reached deals with the government. The authorities arrested 11 princes, 4 ministers and a number of former government ministers as it was re-examining the 2009 Jeddah floods and investigating the Middle East Respiratory Syndrome (MERS) virus, which emerged in Saudi Arabia in 2012.

Earlier, Prince Miteb bin Abdullah, once seen as a contender to the throne was also released on November 29 of this year after he agreed to pay more than $1 billion as a settlement amount. Prince Miteb bin Abdullah, son of the late King Abdullah and former head of the elite National Guard, was among dozens of royal family members, ministers and senior officials who were arrested in an ongoing massive anti-corruption operation in Saudi Arabia.

BACKGROUND:

Saudi authorities taking a huge step to eradicate the corruption in Kingdom arrested 11 princes, 4 ministers and a number of former government ministers as it is re-examining the corruption involved in 2009 Jeddah floods and investigating the Middle East Respiratory Syndrome (MERS) virus, which emerged in Saudi Arabia in 2012.

Saudi Arabia’s newly made anti-corruption committee is headed by the Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman. However, the analysts said the goal of the purge went beyond corruption and aimed to remove potential opposition to Prince Mohammed as he pushes an ambitious and controversial reform agenda.