The Anti-Corruption Authority “Nazaha” revealed that it was able to monitor 68 incidents of suspected corruption in the years 2021, 2022, and 2023, by monitoring social networking sites and the media.
“The total number of monitoring operations for suspicions of corruption since the implementation of the executive regulations (in 2016) amounted to 140 incidents, and the necessary legal measures were taken regarding them,” Issa Al-Enezi, Director of the Department of Corruption Detection and Money Recovery at the Authority, told Al-Rai.
Al-Enezi added that “Nazaha follows up on news and information about facts that may constitute suspicions of corruption crimes stipulated in Article 22 of Law No. 2 of 2016 regarding the establishment of the Public Authority for Combating Corruption and the provisions related to disclosure of financial disclosure,” explaining that “information and news are being evaluated in place.” Follow-up on incidents of suspected corruption crimes that are monitored from various sources, according to the preliminary conditions required for corruption crimes mentioned in Article 22, and they are raised about a public position subject to the law establishing the commission.
And he stressed that “the commission proceeds with its procedures as soon as the initial conditions are met and the information is serious and reliable, and the extent to which the matter was previously discussed in the commission is verified or not,” noting that “monitoring sources include various media outlets, including local and international newspapers.”
Regarding the legal basis for the monitoring process, Al-Enezi stated that “Article 24 of Law No. 2 of 2016 regarding the establishment of the Public Authority for Combating Corruption and the provisions related to the disclosure of financial disclosure allowed the authority to collect information as soon as it became aware of the existence of a suspicion of a corruption crime, and it has the right to the way to do this is to review the records, documents, and papers related to the crime in question, as well as request to provide it with any data, information or documents related to it, and it may decide to refer it to the competent judicial authorities.