FORMER United States ambassador Richard Olsen narrowly escaped a prison term recently when an American court put him on probation and fined an undisclosed amount for `improper demeanours`.

Human nature is the same when it comes to insatiable love for wealth and power. Be it the US, Brazil or Pakistan, presidents, prime ministers or ambassadors tend to fall for petty gains.

However, when such matters take place in a civilised country, things cannotbe keptsecretforlongasthe people and the media are quite vigilant and highlight such wrongdoings after thorough investigations. Justice, too, is dispensed quicl ly and its execution is also immediate.

This could be ascribed to the fact that the benchand the prosecutors are diligent, well-prepared and unbiased while handling such cases, irrespective of whomsoever happens to be the final beneficiary of such gifts. People have to, and are made to, face consequences of all their actions.When it comes to Pakistan, matters are usually swept under the rug.

When these do come out in the open, the accused often donotappearin the courts to defend their acts, excusing attendance in court on flimsy grounds, and request for innumerable extensions in the judicial process. And, of course, the `bail before arrest` option is there to be utilised atthe Erstinstance.

There are legal lacunas quoted to make the case weak. Petitions are submitted tochange thevenue,andrequestsare also submitted for changing the trial judge. All this is done to prolong the judical proceedings. As a last resort, when nothing else works, the courts are besieged, and the rest, as they say, is history; a history we have seen a few times.

One fails to fully understand why we are the way we are. Where did we go wrong and how will the systems change? Khaled Islamabad