Mongolia parliament urged to reject amnesty bill News
Mongolia parliament urged to reject amnesty bill

[JURIST] Transparency International [advocacy website] and the UNCAC Coalition [official website] on Thursday urged [press release] the Mongolian parliament [official website] to veto a new bill that contains provisions granting amnesty to individuals being investigated for corruption. They argue that the passage of this law would allow for 45 out of 55 corruption cases brought by the Independent Agency against Corruption (IAAC) [official website] in Mongolia to be terminated as the accused would be granted amnesty. The Chair of Transparency International, José Ugaz, said:

This is a blatant attempt by politicians to grant themselves impunity. Anyone accused of corruption must be investigated. We assume the government and parliament of Mongolia is not willing to involve itself in such an international scandal and will throw the law out immediately.

It is estimated that the crimes amount to 32 billion Mongolian Togrog (USD $16.2 million).

Corruption remains a significant challenge around the world. Earlier this week former UN General Assembly president John Ashe was charged [JURIST report] for allegedly taking part in a scheme to receive $1.3 million in bribes to conduct official actions supporting Chinese business interests. Also this week the Judicial Council of Ghana announced [JURIST report] the suspension of seven high court judges following corruption allegations by an investigative journalist. Last week the Croatian Supreme Court overturned [JURIST news archive] the corruption conviction and nine-year prison sentence of former prime minister Ivo Sanader, ordering a new trial. Last month prosecutors in China announced [JURIST report] that they will be investigating former China Supreme Court justice Xi Xiaoming on corruption charges.