Sources revealed to Bahraini Leaks that many former ministers and officials who worked in the governments of former Prime Minister Khalifa bin Salman Al Khalifa had been put on trial.
The sources stated that the campaign of trials came on the orders of the Crown Prince of Bahrain, Salman bin Hamad Al Khalifa, with the blessing of his father, the king, on the pretext of their involvement in corruption cases.
Five former ministers and officials have been arrested so far, as part of the moves of the King of Bahrain, Hamad bin Isa, in all directions to expand the influence and empower his son, who took over as prime minister after the death of his uncle on November 11 last.
At the end of last May, a royal order was issued to remove the former prime minister’s pictures from all government agencies.
This was followed by the automatic removal of his images from all offices of companies, banks and institutions operating in the private and public sectors to erase his shadows and fold his page completely.
The new Crown Prince of Bahrain is keen to present the government as pursuing pivotal reform policies that affect the lives of Bahrainis.
The crown prince believes it is necessary to exclude previous officials and those loyal to the late prime minister and bring new people who could implement the new government’s policies.
These are the first two cases involving two former ministers since the current prime minister took office.
The sources revealed that a former minister is on trial, days after prison sentences were issued against another minister in the case of fake checks.
This time, the former minister is in prison for illegal possession of money, which the court ruling found to be legitimately owned by the widow of the former minister’s son and granddaughter.
The widow of the former minister’s son proved her right to the money ten years ago in a court case. The lawsuit accused the former minister of refusing to pay a share to the woman and her daughter in a real estate company, villa and shop owned by her husband.
The lawsuit demanded payment of 48,000 dinars to the woman and her daughter from the proceeds of a villa and shop in Isa Town from September 2012 to December 2020.
The woman also filed another lawsuit demanding the former minister and his two daughters pay their share of the profits of a real estate company owned by her husband.
After the trials, the court ordered the minister and his two daughters to pay 420,108 dinars to the woman and her daughter.
The new case appeared a few days after the Third High Criminal Court issued two rulings against a former minister convicted in two cases of issuing bad checks.
During the institution’s attempt to cash the check, it became clear that there was not enough balance in the minister’s account, so it demanded payment from him more than once, but he did not respond.
After repeated demands for him to pay the value of the check and his evasion of payment, the company filed a criminal complaint against the former minister, and the prosecution referred him to the court, which issued a sentence of imprisonment for six months with effect.
He appealed the judgment before the Court of Appeal, and a decision was issued in absentia upholding the sentence.
After his arrest, the former minister appealed against the ruling, and the court ruled to reject the appeal and uphold the prison sentence.
The facts of the second case date back to 2017, when the former minister checked for 160,000 dinars to one of his friends in return for a debt he owed.
After vigorous attempts by Al-Siddiq, he did not get his money, so he submitted a criminal complaint against the minister to the Public Prosecution, which referred the case to the court, and a sentence of 3 years imprisonment was issued.
The minister appealed the ruling before the Second High Criminal Court of Appeal, and a judgment in absentia was issued, upholding the imprisonment for three years.
When the accused was arrested, he submitted an appeal to the court and appeared before it, and it decided to amend the sentence and suffice with his imprisonment for two years.
In his first interview with local newspapers on February 25, the new crown prince promised an “upcoming ministerial formation” without specifying a precise date.
He said that he looks forward to the cabinet’s composition is based on competency and representing different age groups.
