Justice first before mercy

The plea for compassion for Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo is presumably coming from good faith. But the reasons offered to rationalize such gesture are simply preposterous.

Former President Estrada said there’s no need to move detained GMA to a regular jail. “She can continue… hospital arrest. Not because she is a former president … but because she is a woman.”

Senators Defensor-Santiago and Honasan said that jail is not fitting for GMA as this might cause an international backlash. Placing Mrs. Arroyo in a detention facility also hurts democracy and institutions. Defensor said, “If we humiliate the former president, it would damage the presidency.”

Honasan adds, “The world is watching and whatever way we treat the ex-President would send a strong message of what we are.”

Apparently the world believes that leaders-gone-wrong should not be given special treatment. They are made to pay for crimes that GMA and cronies are charged with. They agree with C.S. Lewis that, “Mercy without justice is unmerciful.”

Chen Shui-bian, President of Taiwan (2000-2008)

One hour after he stepped down and lost immunity on May 2008, Taiwanese prosecutors ensured that Chen is restrained. He was charged with embezzlement, taking bribes and money laundering, a total of $15 M from 2000 to 2008. His wife Wu Shu-chen was also convicted on two bribery charges. He is currently in Taipei Prison, serving a 19-year sentence reduced from a life sentence.

• Roh Tae-woo — President of South Korea (1988-1993).

Roh’s successor, Kim Young-sam, launched an anti-corruption drive that snared two former presidents, Roh and Chun Doo-hwan (1980-1988) for bribery. Both were also charged with mutiny and treason for their roles in the 1979 coup and 1980 Gwangju massacre. Both were convicted of treason, mutiny and corruption.

Chun was sentenced to death, later commuted to life imprisonment, while Roh’s 22-year sentence was reduced to 17 years on appeal. Both were later pardoned by President Kim Dae-jung.

• Kakuei Tanaka — Prime Minister of Japan (1972 -1984)

In February 1976, the vice chairman of Lockheed Corporation testified before the US Senate that Tanaka accepted $1.8 M in bribes for the purchase of Lockheed L-1011 aircraft. Tanaka was arrested and incarcerated in the Tokyo Detention House. He posted bail at $690,000.

The Lockheed trial ended October 1983. Tanaka was found guilty and sentenced to four years. He filed an appeal that the Tokyo High Court dismissed in 1985, reinstating the original sentence. Tanaka immediately appealed to the Supreme Court. Pending resolution, his medical condition deteriorated. He died in December 1993.

• Alberto Fujimori —President of Peru (1990-2000)

Fujimori, a Peruvian-Japanese, fled to Japan in 2000, hounded by a corruption scandal where he offered to resign. This was rejected by the Congress, which preferred impeachment. Evading charges of corruption and human rights abuses, Fujimori went on self-imposed exile until his arrest in 2005 and extradition in September 2007.

In December 2007, he was convicted of ordering illegal search and seizures, and sentenced to six years. Twenty-five years was added for his role in killings/kidnappings perpetuated in the ’90s by the Grupo Colina death squad.

In July 2009, another 7 years was added for embezzlement, after he admitted that he gave $15 M from the Peruvian treasury to his former intelligence service chief, Vladimiro Montesinos. In a fourth trial two months later, he pled guilty to bribery and was given an additional six-year term.

• Zine El Abidine Ben Ali — President of Tunisia (1987-2011)

On January 2011, amid protest rallies, Ben Ali fled to Saudi Arabia with his wife and children. The interim government asked Interpol to issue an international arrest warrant for money laundering and drug trafficking. Six months after the ouster, he and his wife were sentenced to 35 years in prison for embezzlement and misuse of public funds. An additional 20-year sentence was imposed in June 2012, for inciting violence and murder.

• Muhammad Hosni El Sayed Mubarak — President of Egypt (1981-2011)

Mubarak was ousted during the 2011 Egyptian revolution. He resigned and transferred authority to the Supreme Council of the Armed Forces. For 15 days, he and his sons were interrogated on allegations of corruption and abuse of power and ordered to stand trial on charges of premeditated murder of peaceful protestors on August 2011. Military prosecutors also implicated Mubarak in the assassination of his predecessor Anwar Sadat. In June 2012, he was sentenced to life in prison. He is reportedly in critical health condition.

• Jacques René Chirac — President of France (1995-2007)

The first former head of state charged with misuse of public money while he was mayor of Paris (1977-1995), Chirac was charged with corruption on March 2011. He was accused of paying cronies and political allies through 28 ghost jobs. In December 2011, Chirac was found guilty and given a suspended sentence of two years for embezzling public funds, abuse of trust and illegal conflict of interest.

• Adrian Nastase — Romania (2000- 2004)

Addressing the concerns of the European Union on widespread graft, Romania’s top court confirmed the two-year jail sentence for corruption to be served by former PM Nastase. He was convicted for illegally amassing about $1.9 M from an event organized by a state construction watchdog for his 2004 election campaign. In June 2012, he attempted to commit suicide by shooting himself in the neck.

• José Arnoldo Alemán Lacayo — President of Nicaragua (1997-2002)

In December 2003 Aleman was sentenced to 20 years for crimes of embezzlement, money laundering and corruption. Because of health problems, he served his prison term under house arrest. Transparency International named him the ninth most corrupt leader in 2004, estimating that he had looted $100 million.

In January 2009, Nicaragua’s Supreme Court overturned the decision, which stunned Opposition. They suspected a secret deal was made with Daniel Ortega, president and leader of the Sandinista Party.

• Jaume Matas i Palou — President of the Balearic Islands (1996-1999; 2003-2007)

Jaume Matas was sentenced to six years for corruption and fraud plus nine months for misuse of a public position. He was convicted of using public money to bribe journalists to write glowingly about him, and dismiss negative allegations. His press officer, Antonio Alemany, was sentenced to three years for corruption, bribery and fraud. It’s the first time a retired President of a region has ever been jailed in Spain.

Leaders who betray public trust must not go unpunished. For as Shakespeare noted, “Nothing emboldens sin more than mercy.”

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