Concealing and Divulging Crimes and Errors in the Public Arena from the Ethical Perspective

The praised and dispraised concealment has a special place in Islamic ethics. Dispraised concealment requires clarification and divulgence. What is being explored in the present study is the concealment and divulgence of public crimes and wrongdoings committed by the offenders against people and the public fund. The controversial question here is what the moral duty of the offenders is to compensate for their crimes against the public, and to what extent they conceal their crimes. What is the duty of others for disclosure? This study first explains the first ethical principle in concealing secrets, flaws, crimes and errors of oneself and others, then identifies the moral duty of others against the offenders and the general errors in disclosing secrets and flaws, then again reiterates the moral duty of the offenders after committing criminal acts and public transgression, and ultimately reveals the moral duty of the oppressed and others (such as the media) in informing of the offenders’ oppression, its limits and conditions.