“IS THE BRIBE-TAKER GUILTY AND THE BRIBE-GIVER INNOCENT?”
As a result of the successful operations carried out by the Financial Police in recent times, the most frequently asked question of recent times has become: “Why are bribe-takers arrested but bribe-givers are not?”
The answer to this question lies in Section 154 of the Criminal Code.
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“Bribery”, “Corruption”, “Favouritism”, “Theft”, “Violation of the right to life” and more…
The above can be summarised as some of the most important symptoms of ‘social decay’, which can be described as ‘the gradual weakening and diminishing of values that have been agreed upon and accepted by society from the past to the present, and internalised due to this acceptance’.
As society increasingly distances itself from its own identity and values, the proliferation and normalisation of things considered ‘shameful’, ‘criminal’, or ‘embarrassing’ inevitably creates a vicious cycle as these ‘shameful acts’ become more widespread.
Feelings of ‘shame’ and ‘humiliation/embarrassment’ are increasingly being replaced with brazen defiance. Individuals’ sense of belonging to the society in which they live is diminishing.
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Of course, this situation, which requires in-depth examination and evaluation by sociologists, has also been evident in the north of Cyprus for a long time.
Particularly in the last 5-10 years, countless reports of ‘bribery, fraud, corruption, nepotism, favouritism’ have been appearing on an almost daily basis.
Something you see every day becomes increasingly ‘normal’, more ‘likely’, more ‘common place’.
Of course, there is always a segment of society that resists this situation and refuses to accept it; however, blaming the individuals by asking ‘why aren’t you reacting?’ and thus effectively declaring them as accomplices does not solve the problem.
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That was a long introduction… Leaving the issue of social decay to the experts, sociologists and those working in the field, I will now turn to the specific topic I would like to discuss.
Some of the symptoms above recently have solidified and ceased to be mere rumours, thanks to the operations carried out by the Financial Police, based on information and evidence obtained entirely through their own investigations and research.
With the arrest of the Chairman of the Central Tender Commission on bribery charges, the question that keeps appearing in the comments sections of news articles and on social media is, “Where are the bribe-givers while the bribe-takers are being arrested?”
Indeed, aren’t both sides guilty? Where are they?
The answer to this question lies in the provisions of the ‘Effective Repentance Law’ in Chapter 154 of the Penal Code.
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Article 101 B, paragraph 1 of the law states:
“If a public servant who has accepted a bribe informs the police, or the Public Prosecutor’s Office of the situation before the official authorities learn of it, and before any investigation is initiated, and if they surrender the goods, money, or anything else that is the subject of the bribe, or its equivalent in value, to these authorities, no criminal proceedings will be brought against them for the offence of bribery. In this case, the goods, money or anything else that is the subject of the bribery shall be confiscated by the court upon the request of the Public Prosecutor’s Office. However, the fact that no criminal proceedings are brought against the person who accepted the bribe for the reasons stated above does not prevent criminal proceedings from being brought against the person who gave the bribe.”
Paragraph 2 of Article 101 B of the Law states as follows:
“A public servant who has agreed with a person to accept a bribe shall not be subject to criminal proceedings for bribery if they inform the police or the Public Prosecutor’s Office of the situation before the official authorities become aware of it and before any investigation is initiated in this regard. However, the non-prosecution of a public official who has agreed to accept a bribe under the circumstances described in this paragraph does not prevent the prosecution of the person who has agreed to give the bribe.”
Article 101B, paragraph 3 of the law also states:
“If a person who offers a bribe or makes an agreement with a public official in this regard informs the police or the Public Prosecutor’s Office of the situation before the official authorities become aware of it, and before any investigation is initiated in this regard, no criminal proceedings shall be brought against them for the offence of offering a bribe. In this case, the goods, or money given as a bribe to the recipient shall be returned to the bribe giver by court order. The fact that no criminal proceedings are brought against the person who gave the bribe, or who entered into an agreement with a public official in this regard for the reasons set out in this paragraph does not prevent criminal proceedings from being brought against the public official who received the bribe, or who entered into an agreement to receive the bribe.”
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In other words, the Criminal Code calls on persons involved in the crime of ‘bribery’ to become ‘informants’ in accordance with certain criteria in order to uncover this crime and allows them to benefit from ‘Effective Repentance’.
Thus, even if the bribery offence is unilateral, it gets punished.
Almost all countries in the world have such provisions in their laws. Legislators and law enforcement agencies engage in a kind of ‘collaboration with the offender’ to uncover certain crimes.
This can be examined from many angles.
A criminal is rewarded for feeling remorse for the crime they participated in and confessing to it, but at the same time, they also ensure that the crime is exposed.
At the same time, the person who was an accomplice to the crime is not punished.
I believe it is also quite debatable from a philosophical perspective.
But at least during this period, I think it has become clearer that the answer to the questions asked is not ‘the police’s preference’, or ‘favouritism towards the offender’.
In short, if you have been involved in, or witnessed such a crime, you can report the situation to the police by taking advantage of this law.
This article was originally published on 23.11.2025