CAIRO - According to the Minister of Finance, symbols of the old regime facing graft charges have offered to cede part of their property in return for a pardon in cases of financial corruption. The authorities are said to be considering the pros and cons of the offer in order to reach a decision in due time. The piece of news as it was published in the local press was devoid of details about the mechanism and legal status of such an offer, especially given that lawsuits in this connection are already in the hands of the judiciary. The brief statement could be indicative of transparency, whereby public opinion is entitled to an update of events in Torah Prison, but then it could be perceived as a litmus test of the public tolerance of the idea of ‘forget and forgive'. Under austere economic conditions, which are augmenting the State's domestic and foreign debts and long-awaited steps to retrieve purported funds smuggled by Mubarak, his sons and his close associates of former statesmen and business tycoons, the offer might be tempting. But what about years of systematic plundering of the country's resources that eventually landed the people in a quagmire of corruption, poor services and a growing circle of poverty? Is restoring ‘part' of the usurped money a fair price for the harm that has been done? The compromise as such would become a precedent for culpable defendants in future cases shaking the principle of accountability that has been missing for decades. The revolution basically broke out to rid the country of deep-rooted malpractices and so paradoxically would be excusing those willing to give back illegally gotten money, brushing aside the right of society to punish wrong-doers. Such Torah inmates seem to be still living in the past hoping to get away with their crimes, should they sacrifice part of the fortune, which they should not have made in the first place!
