The government is going to set up a “Truth Commission” to have confessions from businessmen accused of corruption with an aim to settle the charges against them without putting them to trial.
Formulation of the commission, which is quite identical to the reconciliation commissions in several countries, comes as the government is pondering over giving corrupt businessmen a chance to surrender their ill-gotten wealth or pay financial penalty and thus avoid arrest or trial.
The commission will be a major tool for “Plea Bargain”, an agreement where a defendant agrees to plead guilty or no contest in exchange for a settlement from the prosecution regarding the punishment.
“In many countries, the question of reconciliation and settlement comes after a major change. So, we are thinking about introducing plea bargain for businessmen,” Law Adviser Mainul Hosein said yesterday.
The government is working on enacting a law to give legal cover to the commission, he told reporters at the information ministry. He, however, did not elaborate on the structure of the commission.
“Businessmen have been repeatedly saying they are in panic, they cannot get involved in their businesses as per their expectation,” Mainul said, adding, “Going before the Truth Commission, they will admit to acquiring wealth through dishonest means and will say: ‘Fine us or take away our illegally-earned wealth’.”
Acknowledging that the identity of an accused–whether they are politicians or businessmen–cannot be considered during the ongoing campaign against corruption, he said, “Since this government’s prime objective is to ensure democracy and good governance through elections, we cannot deal all types of corruption the same way.”
While all are putting utmost emphasis on the transparency and honesty of the government, people must also think about reviving the country’s economy, he said, adding, “If we cannot create employment for poor ordinary people, cannot create jobs, the government will fail to function.”
Plea bargain will not only reduce the time for disposal of a case, it will also reduce government expenditure required for keeping the accused in prisons and prosecution of the cases, the information adviser said.
“The country will face a big problem if the businessmen stop their businesses and the economy stops functioning. It is not possible to create businessmen overnight,” he said, adding that the government is just going to deal businessmen in a separate way, which does not mean sparing them of the corruption charges against them.
“During the rule of law, ‘court’, ‘trial’–these are regular issues. But when businessmen had to run business amidst a reign of corruption, many might have been involved in corruption against their will,” Mainul said.
If the state machinery, the ministers, political leaders and government employees are honest, businessmen cannot get the chance to resort to corruption, he noted.
Asked what will be done about some corruption suspects who have double identity–those of a politician and a businessman, Mainul said the matter is yet to be settled. “Let us see how much a politician or a businessman each of them is,” he said.
While the government is working on the law, the adviser asked for opinions of the business community on different aspects of it.
Several countries including South Africa, Peru, South Korea, Liberia and Sierra Leone have Truth and Reconciliation Commission, East Timor has Commission for Reception, Truth and Reconciliation, Rwanda has National Unity and Reconciliation Commission, Morocco has Equity and Reconciliation Commission, and Fiji has Reconciliation and Unity Commission.
Most of these commissions hear victims of human rights violation and discover and reveal atrocities and wrongdoings by the past governments. These commissions also take testimony of the perpetrators of violence and their request for amnesty.
Categories: Bangla, Bangladesh, Bangladesh Economy, Bangladesh News, Daily Bangladesh News, Economy, News
