By IANS
Dhaka : Bangladesh’s interim government is planning to set up a truth commission to secure confessions from businesspersons accused of corruption and settle charges without putting them to trial.
The move comes after a nine-month drive against corruption in which many businesspersons have been caught and put on trial, triggering panic among the community.
The government wants to end uncertainty that could hurt the economy, media reports said Thursday.
Formulation of the commission, similar to the reconciliation commissions in several countries, comes as the government is pondering “giving corrupt businessmen a chance to surrender their ill-gotten wealth or pay financial penalty and thus avoid arrest or trial”, The Daily Star said.
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.
The government is working on enacting a law to give legal cover to the commission, said Hosein, who performs ministerial functions in the current interim government.
“Businessmen have been repeatedly saying they are in panic, they cannot get involved in their businesses as per their expectation,” Hosein 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’.
“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 with businessmen in a separate way, which does not mean sparing them of the corruption charges against them.
The government has so far recovered 30 billion takas ($50 million approx) from economic offenders that include businesspersons, politicians and officials.
Acknowledging that the identity of an accused — whether 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 with all types of corruption the same way.”