DHAKA: Former secretary general of Amnesty International Irene Khan pocketed £533,103 when she quit the organisation in December 2009.

The pay-out, made just seven months after she launched an anti poverty campaign, was more than four times the £132,490 she picked up in 2009, reported Express of UK.

The secret deal for Irene Khan, one of Britain’s most high-profile anti-poverty campaigners, was slammed by critics. Several other high-ups of Amnesty were also found involved with such dealings.

The then Tory MP Philip Davies hit out at the “ludicrous” award saying, “I am sure people making donations to Amnesty, in the belief they are alleviating poverty, never dreamed they were subsidizing a fat cat payout.”

He further said, “This will disillusion many benefactors.”

The disclosure created a huge image crisis of the international charity organization.

An Amnesty donor said: “I won’t be giving any more money. How can this woman lecture the world about abuses and then walk off with this staggering amount of cash?”

As the first woman, Asian and Muslim to head the organisation, Irene Khan spent eight years in charge of Amnesty’s operations, acting as its chief political adviser and strategist, chief spokeswoman and the chief executive officer of the international secretariat.

The figures were revealed in Amnesty International’s financial records for the year ending 31 March 2010.

A second director, deputy secretary general Kate Gilmore, was paid more than £300,000 in a similar deal when she resigned in the same month, reported the Express.

Peter Pack, chairman of Amnesty’s international executive committee, said: “The payments to outgoing secretary general Irene Khan shown in the accounts of AI (Amnesty- International) Ltd for the year ending March 31st 2010 include payments made as part of a confidential agreement between AI Ltd and Irene Khan.

BDST: 1803 HRS, OCT 30, 2015
SR