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A MAN IS PRESUMED INNOCENT UNTIL FOUND GUILTY

Dec 19, 2011 Features / Columnists, Peeping Tom

 

 

If every public official was to proceed on leave or be interdicted simply on the basis of allegations made against them, there would be a great many persons who would end up being treated unjustly.
There is a principle that if someone within an organization is facing a serious indictment, then it is proper for that person to recuse himself or be recused in order to ensure the integrity of an investigation.
However, before any such steps are taken a prima facie case has to be made out, that is, there has to be some credibility attached to the allegations being made.
One has to be careful not to accept all allegations at face value. It is necessary to access the evidence before jumping to any conclusions because that very evidence can blow up back in your face.
The fact, therefore, that an allegation- serious as it is- has been made against a public official does not mean that the allegation is true. It also does not mean that it is not true.
In assessing the allegation a number of things must be considered. First of all the timing of the allegation must be considered. Is there a motive to the timing of the allegation?
Secondly, who is the person making the allegation? What is the credibility of the person making the allegation? Has this person making the allegation ever had any problems with the law? Is this person at present or ever in the past ever been under investigation for any offense? What is the background of this person? And what is the motive of making the allegation?
These are all the things that should be considered.
Then the person’s story must be examined. The story must be seriously examined to see if there are any contradictions, if there is anything that does not make sense. In short is there cogency to the story and is it believable?
Only until these things have been established should any attempt be made to send the public official off the job so as not to impair the integrity of the investigation into the allegations proper. It is important that a prima facie case exists before proceeding because it would be patently unfair for every time somebody makes an allegation against some official for that person to be sent off. It means a mere allegation can deprive some of their job.
The investigators have their work to do. But let it also be recalled that sometimes what looks initially like an open- and shut case can turn out to quite different.
The prosecutors in the rape case against the former head of the International Monetary Fund thought that they had a case. They were so confident that they arrested the suspect at the airport and he was arraigned.
But things turned out quite differently. As the prosecutors sifted the evidence they began to find contradictions and this raised red flags. And when they looked further, they began to become worried about the history of the person making the accusation. They then decided to wire tap the person and what they discovered immediately led to the case against the head of the IMF falling flat on its face. The prosecution’s case fell apart because of the credibility of the person who was making the allegation.
Even if the prosecution did not doubt the truthfulness of the story of the victim, they could not risk the matter proceeding further because of the credibility factor.
It is therefore very important that all the available facts be assessed properly before the public rushes to judgment in any matter.
One can understand the euphoria of persons who simply would love to see nothing more than a ‘big one’ being charged and publicly humiliated. But the old adage should be respected “ A man is presumed innocent until found guilty.”

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