Anti-graft net to widen beyond politicians

FE Team | Published: July 13, 2007 00:00:00 | Updated: February 01, 2018 00:00:00

The anti-graft net will widen far beyond politicians to capture all sorts of corrupt people.
Anti-corruption Commission (ACC) Chairman Hasan Mashhud Chowdhury said this in an interview with the BBC, which was broadcast in its Asia Today programme Wednesday, reports bdnews24.com.
"I can assure (you) that the net will be wider in future. The only criteria we will go by is, did he become rich by unfair means?" the ACC chairman said.
BBC: Everyone knows that the corruptions of the previous government were very very deep. Why did you only target politicians so far, not bureaucrats?
Chowdhury: "There is a saying, the fish starts rotting from the head. Political leaders headed the show. So, they came first."
To another question, he said the ACC drive was 'indeed a very big task, especially in the present context'.
"But the fact is someone has to start the action. If I may put it this way, the first job is to drive the fear of Allah into the minds of those who have been involved and those who are potentially corrupt."
BBC: How many people were arrested on suspicions of corruption after the emergency government came in?
Chowdhury said: "About a couple of hundreds. But the list should become bigger."
BBC: What about protecting the rights of the accused?
Chowdhury: "Thank you for the concern of the issue of the rights of the accused. But you should remember these are the people responsible for violations of human rights of a lot of others.
"The rules are very clear. We are operating within the frames of the ACC Act, which provides all protections and safeguards of the accusedâ€.
He said the accused have the rights to appoint their own lawyers and defend themselves as best as they can, appealing to the High Court once the trial court finishes hearings.
"And the timeframe is so long that there will be plenty of opportunities to do all the things."