Two former officials of the Directorate of Health Affairs were fined and jailed on Tuesday in a bribery case. Three serving Health officials were fined. Each of 11 people who bribed them got six months' jail and a fine of SR10,000. The Administrative Circuit in Madina sentenced the former director of Medical Licenses to five years in prison, fined him SR50,000 and ordered him to return SR353,000 he had accepted as bribe. A retired senior Health Directorate official was sentenced to two years in prison and fined SR10, 000 for accepting bribes. The court also fined the former director of Health Affairs SR10,000 for misuse of power and the heads of Financial Affairs and Public Relations SR3,000 each for administrative corruption. An Egyptian pharmacist and a Chadian who had offered the bribes got two-year jail terms. The owner of a chain of pharmacies was sentenced to six months' jail and fined SR40, 000. His attorney said they would appeal to the High Court in Riyadh. A Jordanian pharmacist was the only one acquitted in the case. Meanwhile in Taif, the verdict in the largest bribery case in Saudi court history was postponed on Tuesday to Dec. 23 after the municipality did not respond to questions the judge had raised. Sources say the breakdown of the SR100,000 in bribes allegedly taken by defendants, which the municipality was asked to provide, is at the heart of the case.
