Persecution or accountability?

The government may have prioritised the fight against corruption, but did it ensure that its accountability body was following the law and international norms in the way it treated those accused of wrongdoing? It is important – for justice to be done – that the presumption of innocence be granted to everyone and that those facing investigation do not have their rights and dignity violated. Unfortunately, NAB does not seem to have the same idea regarding justice and due process. The tragic story of Brig (r) Asad Munir is testimony to this. Munir should never have been driven to suicide after being accused in an accountability case. On the receiving end for all the wrong reasons, he lost his dignity and the desire to live. NAB had pushed him to the wall after registering a case of corruption against him in 2019. Now, in death, he stands vindicated after nothing has come out of the case he was dragged into.

And this was not the only case; NAB has – over the past few years especially – drawn flak for its highhandedness and outright violations of fundamental rights of the accused. There has been case after case in which people have been thrown into prison, even before being charged or any proof presented in court. We have seen professors handcuffed; people facing unnecessary jail time for something that was never proven; families affected. On top of it all, this farce of accountability has not delivered any results.

Historically, for us at least, there is often a thin line between the process of accountability and persecution. Now this line has virtually vanished altogether. It is this persecution that led to Asad Munir’s death. There is no justification to place NAB accused in handcuffs or parade them in front of the media. It is a constitutional and legal obligation that the accused enjoy the dignity and respect of an innocent person unless the case proves them guilty. Violating this basic principle of justice is like denying the right to live in dignity. The problem is that NAB has been acting as an investigative, prosecuting and judicial body since it gathers evidence against the corrupt, frames cases against them and decides whether to offer them plea bargains and voluntary return. Vesting so much power in one agency creates conditions that are ripe for abuse and that is what seems to have happened. For any accountability effort to remain credible, NAB needs to be reined in.