Hunter Biden’s Conviction and the third world

Hunter Biden, the 54-year-old first son of US sitting President Joe Biden, has been found guilty on all three felony cases against him relating to buying a hand gun while being a user of cocaine as drug. The first two counts were for lying about his drug use on a federal background check form, and the third count was for possessing a gun while addicted to illegal drugs. In his reaction, on Tuesday after the verdict, President Joe Biden said, “I will accept the outcome of this case and will continue to respect the judicial process.” Biden has repeatedly said he would not use the powers of the presidency to pardon a guilty verdict for his son. Biden also said, “As I said last week, I am the president, but I am also a Dad. Jill and I love our son.” No sentencing date is set yet; Hunter Biden could face up to 25 years in prison and a fine of up to $750,000 at sentencing, though he likely will receive far less than the maximum as a first-time offender.

David Charles Weiss is an American attorney. He was nominated by President Donald Trump to be United States Attorney for the United States District Court for the District of Delaware, and was retained by President Joe Biden. As special counsel David Weiss said,” While there has been much testimony about the defendant's use of drugs and alcohol, ultimately, this case was not just about addiction, a disease that haunts families across the United States, including Hunter Biden's family.” Weiss commented, no one in this country is above the law, Hunter Biden should be no more accountable than any other citizen convicted of this same conduct.

Whatever we think and say about their foreign policy, this is the beauty of Western state-pragmatism. Former Republican President Donald Trump is perhaps the most powerful individual in the United States. However, on May 30, Donald J. Trump was convicted of falsifying records to cover up a sex scandal that threatened to derail his 2016 presidential campaign. This conviction capped an extraordinary trial that tested the resilience of the American justice system and will reverberate into November’s election.

These are not the first cases that US notable persons facing ‘no one is above the law’. Donald Trump Jr., the son of President Donald Trump, was arrested on February 25, 2001 in New Orleans on a charge of “public intoxication.” Twin sisters Jenna and Barbara Bush, the daughters of President George W. Bush, were both cited for under aged drinking while their father was in office. Neil Bush, the fourth child of President George H.W. Bush (Bush senior) and brother of President George W. Bush was sued by federal regulators in 1990 for serving on the board of a financial institution called Silverado Savings and Loan that collapsed in 1988. Michael Reagan, the adopted son of President Ronald Reagan and his first wife Jane Wyman was accused of violating California securities laws in 1981.

Amy Carter, the daughter of President Jimmy Carter, has had multiple face-offs with the law due to her involvement in political activism. In 1985, she was arrested for participating in an anti-apartheid demonstration in front of the South African embassy in Washington D.C. She was just 17 at the time and protested with her father’s permission. Amy Carter was arrested a second time in 1987 in anti-CIA protests at the University of Massachusetts in Amherst.

Theodore Roosevelt famously said, “No man is above the law and no man below it: nor do we ask any man's permission when we ask him to obey it.” These kinds of events seem like fairy tales in third-world countries. In the third world, nepotism has reached such a level that even if a son sells the country, no one is in a position to utter a word of protest.

If you observe closely, you'll notice that even wealthy people do not face imprisonment or fines. The characteristic of developing countries is such that if any head of government wants to take action against irregularities and corruption, it becomes difficult for them to remain in power. The biggest curse for the third world is that each government takes control of the judicial system. If the judicial system is not strong, no country can progress, and law and order cannot be maintained. And this is the biggest difference between the developed world and the developing world. Due to the lack of good governance, thousands of people migrate from developing countries to the developed world. We know that the first condition of good governance is the government will keep them out of justice system and will try their level best to ensure rule of law. President Barak Obama once said, “We are a nation of laws, and we must follow those laws if we expect our justice system to work.”

Mohshin Habib is an author and journalist