ACC forms body to review Gono Commission’s ‘white paper’

The Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) formed a committee to scrutinize a “white paper” submitted by the Gono Commission that named 116 religious leaders and Islamic speakers for their “involvement in laundering money, funding militancy and spreading communal hatred”.

The anti-graft watchdog formed the three-member committee on Tuesday headed by its Director Syed Iqbal Hossain, and asked it to place a summary of the allegation before the commission after scrutinizing the 2,215-page document, ACC sources said.

“The ACC has established an internal committee to review the ‘white paper’ and present a summary to the commission,” ACC Secretary Mahbub Hossain told reporters at the commission’s headquarters on Thursday.

He added that a decision had not yet been made regarding opening an investigation into the claims made in the “white paper.”

On May 11, the Gono Commission delivered its report to the ACC under the leadership of retired Supreme Court Justice Shamsuddin Chowdhury Manik.

The 30-member commission was formed in February last year with members of the Parliamentary Caucus on Indigenous and Minorities and the Ekattorer Ghatak Dalal Nirmul Committee.

The report named 116 Islamic leaders and orators allegedly involved in laundering money, funding militancy and spreading communal hatred.

At the time of submission, the Gono Commission called upon the ACC to take action against the accused.