Anti-corruption campaign in Saudi Arabia 2017
As part of the anti-corruption campaign in Saudi Arabia in 2017 a series in November 2017 were Saudi princes, ministers, officials and prominent businessmen arrested.
This wave of arrests was preceded by a wave of arrests in September 2017 in which, among others, the scholar Salmān al-ʿAuda, who is considered to be moderate, was arrested.
course
The arrests came shortly after the Saudi King Salman ibn Abd al-Aziz founded an anti-corruption commission headed by his son, the new Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman . The objectives of the commission are to protect public money and to act against persons and entities that are accused of corruption. On November 4, 2017, eleven princes, four ministers, many former ministers and business people were arrested after allegations of corruption. Those affected included the head of the National Guard , Mutaib bin Abdullah , the Minister of Economics and Planning, Adel Fakeih , and Admiral Abdullah Al-Sultan , the naval commander. Prince Al-Walid ibn Talal , one of the richest Arabs, and Saleh Abdullah Kamel as well as the former finance minister Ibrahim Al-Assaf and the former royal court president Chaled al-Tuwaidschri were among those arrested.
199 people had been detained as of November 9, 2017. Those arrested were charged with embezzling public funds of at least $ 100 billion. Saudi Arabian banks frozen more than 1200 individual and corporate accounts in the kingdom as part of the government's anti-corruption measures. The authorities offered the detainees freedom and protection from future charges against the transfer of parts of their assets - in some cases up to 70% - to the state. In the course of this, Mutaib bin Abdullah was released on November 28, 2017 against payment of a large sum - presumably more than one billion US dollars. Among other things, he was accused of misappropriating state funds. A settlement was reached with another three arrested persons.
The campaign officially ended on January 24, 2018.
On January 29, 2018, Attorney General Saud al-Mojeb announced that those arrested had paid a total of 400 billion ryal (86 billion euros) into the state coffers in the form of cash, valuables and securities as part of the campaign .
people
According to reports from Reuters and Al Jazeera , the people arrested include :
- Prince al-Walid ibn Talal (الوليد بن طلال), Chairman of Kingdom Holding
- Prince Mutaib bin Abdullah (متعب بن عبد الله), Minister of the National Guard
- Prince Turki bin Abdullah (تركي بن عبد الله), former governor of Riyadh Province
- Chaled al-Tuvaijri (خالد التويجري), former head of the royal court
- Adel Fakeih (عادل فقيه), Minister of Economy and Planning
- Ibrahim Abdulaziz Al-Assaf (إبراهيم العساف), former Minister of Finance
- Abdullah Al-Sultan (عبد الله السلطان), Commander of the Navy
- Bakr bin Laden (بكر بن لادن), Chairman of the Saudi Binladin Group , the kingdom's largest construction company, and the older half-brother of al-Qaeda chief Osama bin Laden, who was killed in 2011
- Mohammad al-Tobaishi (محمد الطبيشي), former Chief of Protocol of the Royal Court
- Amr al-Dabbagh (عمرو الدباغ), former governor of the General Investment Authority
- Waleed bin Ibrahim Al Ibrahim (وليد آل إبراهيم), Owner of the MBC television network
- Chalid Abdullah Almolhem (خالد الملحم), former general manager of Saudi Arabian Airlines
- Saud ad-Dawish (سعود الدويش), former CEO of STC ( Saudi Telecom )
- Prince Turki bin Nasser Al Saud (تركي بن ناصر), Former Head of the Presidency for Meteorology and Environmental Protection
- Prince Fahd bin Abdullah bin Mohammed Al Saud (فهد بن عبد الله بن محمد آل سعود), former Deputy Secretary of Defense
- Saleh camel (صالح كامل), Businessman
- Mohammed Hussein Al Amoudi (محمد العمودي), Businessman
As part of the arrests, two princes of the Saudi Arabian royal family were killed:
died on the run in a helicopter crash.
See also
Web links
- Martin Gehlen : Spectacular wave of arrests in Saudi Arabia. In: Südwest Presse . September 19, 2017. Retrieved November 8, 2017 .
- Arrests of princes and ex-ministers in Saudi Arabia. In: The Standard . November 5, 2017. Retrieved November 8, 2017 .
References and footnotes
- ↑ cf. At Least 16 More Arrests in Saudi Arabia Amid Succession and Qatar Crisis ; Wave of arrests in Saudia Arabia ; Spectacular wave of arrests in Saudi Arabia (accessed November 7, 2017)
- ↑ From the archive: This is how Jamal Khashoggi criticized the Saudi crown prince . In: Spiegel Online . September 16, 2015 ( spiegel.de [accessed June 10, 2019]).
- ↑ Der Spiegel, November 5, 2017: Saudi Arabia's King dismisses ministers and strengthens Crown Prince (accessed November 9, 2017)
- ↑ David D. Kirkpatrick, New York Times: Saudi Arabia Arrests 11 Princes, Including Billionaire Alwaleed bin Talal
- ↑ Around 200 people arrested in Saudi Arabia
- ↑ usnews.com/news: Saudi Banks Freeze More Than 1,200 Accounts in Trial, Number Still Rising: Sources (November 7, 2017) - accessed November 7, 2017
- ↑ Saudi Arabia demands billions for freedom nzz.ch, accessed on November 20, 2017
- ↑ One billion dollar bail: Saudi prince is allowed to leave prison
- ↑ Campaign against corruption in Saudi Arabia officially ended
- ↑ Saudi Arabia collects 86 billion euros from arrested princes
- ↑ uk.reuters.com: FACTBOX-Saudi Arabia detains princes, ministers in anti-corruption probe (November 5, 2017) - accessed November 7, 2017
- ↑ aljazeera.net: الأمراء والمسؤولون السعوديون المعتقلون (November 5, 2017) - accessed on November 7, 2017
- ↑ TheDuran: Saudi prince Mansour killed in helicopter crash near Yemen border
- ↑ Middleeasteye: Saudi Prince Mansour killed in a helicopter crash near Yemen border