The Anti-Corruption Authority (Nazaha) revealed it was able to monitor 60 suspected corruption incidents during 2021 and 2022 through social media sites and other media outlets, while the latest statistics showed that these incidents are out of the 132 incidents that were monitored since the executive regulations came into force, and “necessary legal measures were taken in this regard.”
Issa Al-Enezi, who monitors and follows up the projects of the authority, told a local Arabic daily that Nazaha follows up news and information on facts that may constitute suspicions of corruption stipulated in Article 22 of Law No. 2 of 2016 regarding the establishment of Nazaha and the provisions for disclosure of financial assets,” noting that “the information and news subject to follow-up on the facts of suspected corruption crimes that are monitored from various sources are evaluated, in accordance with the necessary preliminary conditions as mentioned in Article 22, provided that they are concerning a public job subject to the law establishing the authority.”
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 authority and the provisions related to disclosure of financial disclosure, allowed the authority to collect information on suspicion of a corruption crime, and for this purpose, it has access to the records. And documents and documents related to the crime in question, as well as a request to provide them with any data, information or documents related to it, and it may decide to refer them to the competent judicial authorities.”
He explained that «Article 25 of the same law gave the authority the right to address and summon any person involved in a corruption crime to hear his statements about it. It has access to its knowledge in any way, including information published by the media.”