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Bribery Commission’s annual report to President
Ninety three public servants were produced in Court by the Commission to Investigate Allegations of Bribery or Corruption during the year 2002, according to its latest annual report handed over to President Chandrika Kumaratunga.

Among the high-ranking public officials brought before court by the Open Investigations Unit were a Deputy Inspector General, a Senior Superintendent of Police, a Commissioner of Excise, an Inspector of Excise and an Assistant Judicial Medical Officer, the report said.

It further stated that 2,398 cases were investigated including 1,539 cases carried forward from 2000 and 2001 and 859 new cases referred in 2002. The positive trend of people making their identity known when making complaints to the Commission to Investigate Allegations of Bribery or Corruption has been attributed in part to the momentum of reporting of alleged bribery and corruption incidents by government and local government institutions in 2001.

Real complaints (where the person's identity is known) have accounted for 61% of all complaints as opposed to the 12% made anonymously and 27% that were made using pseudonyms. The outcome of cases concluded showed one conviction, 11 acquittals and two discharges in the Magistrate's Courts, six convictions and 13 acquittals in the High Courts and three convictions and one acquittal in the Appellate Courts.

If the number of suspects apprehended during the raids conducted in 2002 were taken into account, the Police Department seemed to be the government institution most infested with acts of bribery and corruption with 26 suspects from various levels within the department, apprehended in 18 raids. Raids were also conducted on the Forest Department, Justice Ministry, Health Ministry and the Ceylon Electricity Board.

Raids were conducted on 102 instances of complaints of solicitation of bribes received at the Commission direct from the public. However, only 48 raids were successful. Yet this showed a success rate of 47% as opposed to the 40% of raids conducted in 2001.

Public officials to be indicted
Nearly fifty public officials are to be indicted before the Colombo High Court by the Bribery Commission within the next four weeks. Among them are Police, Emigration, Excise, and Customs officers.

This is the second batch of public officials that was being indicted by the Commission to Investigate Allegations of Bribery or Corruption after it was revived last month. Twenty three public officials were indicted this week. The officers were charged for demanding bribes to avoid issuing of arrest warrants, allowing entry of forged passports, shielding drug and illegal timber dealers. The Commission ceased to function after the death of Commissioner T.M. Abeyweera and was revitalised after the appointment of former Appeal Court Justice K. Viknarajah.

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