Nepal's royal government tried to frame top politicians: Reports

Aug 22, 2007, 5:43 GMT

Kathmandu - A government report has accused King Gyanendra's administration of trying to frame corruption charges against rival politicians by producing fake documents, newspaper reports said Wednesday.

The report investigated allegations of abuse of authority by members of the Royal Commission for Corruption Control (RCCC) formed by King Gyanendra following a coup in which he sacked an elected prime minister and assumed full executive powers in February 2005.

The commission detained several top politicians, accusing them of corruption while occupying ministerial positions.

However, the leaked report said the RCCC attempted to prosecute 20 top politicians, including the current Prime Minister Girija Prasad Koirala, former prime minister Sher Bahadur Deuba and the leader of Nepal's largest communist party, Madhav Kumar Nepal, with falsified proof.

'The investigation found documents detailing RCCC's attempts to frame charges,' the Nepali-language daily Kantipur said. 'The files contained photographs of residences and details of bank accounts which indicated biased motives.'

The newspaper quoted a leaked report as saying the RCCC compiled falsified documentation and other details to prove top politicians had amassed wealth and property through illegal means.

The 221-page report was drawn up by a commission formed by the government after the collapse of King Gyanendra's administration in a mass movement in April 2006.

It recommended action against members of the RCCC, who were hand-picked by King Gyanendra, on human rights violations and corruption charges. The report also called for written records to disqualify former royal ministers from holding public posts in the future, citing their involvement.

'There is enough evidence to show excesses by people during the royal regime,' the author of the report, Madhav Prasad Ojha, told Kantipur. 'But it is up to the government whether to take action against them or not.'

The RRCC had the mandate to investigate and prosecute people who it said were accused of corruption.

In the most notable case, the RCCC detained former prime minister Sher Bahadur Deuba and former minister Prakash Man Singh for several months while investigating corruption charges against them in a multi-million-dollar project.

Both were later found guilty of corruption and sentence to two years in jail and fined 90 million rupees (1.4 million dollars).

It also investigated dozens of cases against government officials and businessmen.

However, the Nepalese Supreme Court declared the RCCC unconstitutional in February 2006 and ordered it be scrapped immediately, absolving all found guilty by the controversial body.