LAWYERS have submitted their final arguments in the trial of a manager of a state-owned company accused of disclosing work secrets to a private business.
The 45-year-old Bahraini is facing forgery charges by the High Criminal Court.
He is standing trial alongside his former American colleague and a third accomplice who allegedly had a stake in obtaining the ‘secret information’.
The manager has been charged with revealing confidential secrets to harm his place of work for personal benefit, along with his alleged accomplices.
Defence lawyer Islam Ghunaim, representing the defendants, said that the production statistics in question were available on the Internet and anyone could obtain the information.
“My client did not commit any crimes,” he told a leading judge.
“We previously heard in court that the operations manager said that the 45-year-old Bahraini did not disclose any secrets.
“He also said that there was a board at the entrance of the work premises which contained the daily production numbers.
“I request the acquittal of the defendants due to lack of evidence against them. There isn’t any secret information that was leaked, therefore there is no case. Any person can find out this information and it is not a secret.”
The trial has been adjourned until Thursday for prosecutors to present their final arguments.
An operations manager at the company previously told judges that the 45-year-old Bahraini did not disclose any work secrets, as highlighted in the GDN’s continuing coverage of the case.
The court heard earlier that the Public Prosecution had launched a probe after being notified of the results of an investigation by the Anti-Corruption Directorate.
The manager allegedly falsified a document attributed to a foreign bank, with an aim to submit it to other government authorities in Bahrain, the prosecutor of financial crimes and money laundering claimed.
The third accomplice, a 40-year-old Bahraini, operated a private firm under contract with the manager’s company.
Authorities earlier revealed that the suspects were arrested after telephone calls and messages exchanged between them were recorded and monitored.
Subsequently, officials launched a search of their homes and workplaces and confiscated electronic devices.
The 67-year-old American defendant, who is at large, is standing trial in absentia.
A detective told the court that the manager of the company had access to key information as he had been employed there since 2014.
© Copyright 2020 www.gdnonline.com
Copyright 2021 Al Hilal Publishing and Marketing Group Provided by SyndiGate Media Inc. (Syndigate.info).
