High-profile Saudi corruption probe detainees to face trial

Dozens of high-profile Saudi political and business figures arrested in an anti-corruption sweep will face trial, the attorney general said Monday.

Princes and ministers were targeted at the weekend in a move led by a newly formed anti-graft commission headed by Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman.

"All those suspected... will have full access to legal resources, and the trials will be held in a timely and open manner," Attorney General Sheikh Saud al-Mojeb said in a statement.

"A great deal of evidence has already been gathered, and detailed questioning has taken place."

Mojeb said the authorities were forced to pursue their investigations "discreetly" in order to ensure that "there was no flight from justice".

The anti-graft commission has uncovered evidence pointing at "widespread corruption", its president Khalid bin Abdulmohsen al-Mehaisen said in a separate statement.

"Saudi anti-corruption authorities... have worked painstakingly for three years to investigate the crimes in question," he added.

The information ministry on Sunday said the bank accounts of those arrested will be "frozen" and any assets related to the corruption cases will be registered as state property.

(With AFP)