DHAKA, 23 March 2008 — The chief adviser of Bangladesh’s interim government, Fakhruddin Ahmed, has said that detained former Prime Ministers Khaleda Zia and Hasina Wajed will not be eligible to appear before the proposed Truth Commission seeking pardons as they are already arraigned on corruption charges and facing trial in the courts.
Ahmed, however, said the caretaker government would accept whatever verdict is given in cases involving them by what he called the independent judiciary.
The chief adviser made the remarks during an interview with Al-Jazeera television in London. On the question of lifting of emergency, he said some curbs imposed under the state of emergency on some political activities would be withdrawn to create a congenial atmosphere for campaigning.
Asked whether the proposed Truth Commission would be based on the South African model, Ahmed said the government has looked at similar models set up in different countries.
Explaining the logic behind instituting the Truth Commission, he said some people who have already been accused of corruption have been going through normal judicial processes and there are others who may be willing to say that they had been involved in some irregular corrupt practices. “The idea is that they will be forgiven if they admit to having indulged in some kind of irregular corrupt practices of certain amount of money,” he said. “But, as part of that process, there may be some kind of restrictions on their participation in political activities for a limited period of time.”
Asked if the two “Begums” (Khaleda and Hasina) would also be pardoned if they go through the Truth Commission, Ahmed said: “The current thinking in the judicial circles is that if somebody is already arraigned the judicial process has begun, they should go through the judicial process.”
