Protecting independent institutions and the media is key to fighting corruption. This was the conclusion of the second day of the International Conference entitled "Fighting corruption, defending democracy: the role of national parliaments", organised by the Parliamentary Assembly of the Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE PA), on Saturday.
The third and final session of the conference focused on the contribution of independent institutions and the media in preventing and fighting corruption.
The conference on Saturday was opened by former Attorney General of the Republic of Cyprus Costas Clerides. In his remarks he focused on the importance of the independence of institutions. He said that the Attorney General has been accused at times of overzealousness in the performance of his duties and has been directly or indirectly threatened with dismissal for this.
He stressed the need for close cooperation between truly independent and strengthened audit and prosecution authorities, as their effectiveness is compromised due to lack of expertise in investigating and prosecuting financial crimes, lack of adequate personnel for prosecution, and lack of experienced judges for such cases.
Clerides' references to non-independent media
With regard to the media, Clerides noted that their role in the fight against corruption is very essential. Unfortunately, he said, some media outlets do not enjoy the necessary independence to take a firm stand against corruption because they are controlled by political parties. This makes them tend to be selective about which cases to publish.
He also pointed out that there are no effective procedures to identify the persons behind the declared owners and shareholders of the media. Finally, he referred to the interconnection of SMEs with the banking sector, due to the annual revenues that SMEs receive from banks in the form of advertising, which leads most SMEs to give less time to cases involving banking sector irregularities.
Mr. Clerides noted that special attention should be paid to appointing qualified and honest people to key positions.
In conclusion, he said that the above difficulties should not become cheap excuses for not fighting corruption, but should strengthen our determination to fight it.
Drew Sullivan, editor and co-founder of the Organised Crime and Corruption Reporting Programme (OCCRP), noted that the job of journalism is to tell the truth, understand and explain the problem and hold those responsible accountable for their actions.
"A free and independent press is the cornerstone of any democracy," he said, adding that "journalists serve like canaries in a coal mine. If we die, democracy is likely to die in your country," he said, referring to the attacks that journalists suffer in their fight against corruption.
He said the criminal services industry, as he called it, has become dominant: it is banks, law firms, off-shore registration agencies, hedge funds, etc. They have globalised organised crime and corruption in a way we have never seen before, and many of them are politically powerful. He noted that they are responsible for things like Brexit and the rise of extremist parties.
Individual governments often don't have the consensus or the tools to fight global problems, and international cooperation is not what it should be, he said. That's why the press is "the only natural predator that global crime and corruption has."
OCCRP was sued three times in Cyprus
OCCRP is responsible for uncovering the Panama papers, the Pandora papers and other major investigative journalism stories that led to $7.7 billion in seizures and fines, more than 600 arrests, indictments and convictions, 370 investigations, legislative changes, corporate and civil society actions, and the overthrow of five governments, he said.
"Instead of being flooded with money, we are often attacked," Mr. Sullivan said, after many journalists were murdered, harassed, slandered and sued. He noted that his organization has been sued 3 times in Cyprus. When asked by moderator Irini Charalambidou to name the people from Cyprus who sued the OCCRP, he said they were law firms, mentioning only the late lawyer Neocleous.
Mr. Sullivan stressed the importance of regulating "Strategic Lawsuits Against Public Participation (SLAPPs)", encouraging parliaments to enact strong legislation to limit SLAPPs so that journalists are protected from multiple lawsuits in order to help fight corruption.
"There were no real consequences for the passport scandal"
Bureau of Investigative Journalism's Enablers Programme Editor Franz Wild said investigative journalism gets results. He works with a non-profit organization that publishes with partners such as the NYT, the Guardian, the BBC, etc. Wild noted that the business model for journalism is not sustainable and is forced to rely on non-profits.
He also said that journalists are murdered, arrested, harassed, have little support. "Last week I received a letter from a major American law firm threatening to sue me for an article I published," he said, "and it's costly."
"Today, we often think we have bigger problems, like the Russian attack on Ukraine. You can't understand autocracy without understanding corruption. It is a matter of national security," he said, adding that it is necessary for states to fund law enforcement efforts, as global organized crime has a lot of resources at its disposal.
He noted that there is a link between corruption and all other issues and EU sanctions on Russian oligarchs in response to the Russian invasion of Ukraine is an admission of this.
Finally, referring to the Cypriot "Golden Passports" scandal, he noted that while the Speaker of the Parliament involved resigned, there were no real consequences, no individual responsibility. "And you don't hear any politician demanding more," he said."
Threats of his dismissal were referred to by O. Michaelides
Auditor General Odysseas Michaelides, referring to corruption in Cyprus, said the fight against corruption requires the effective exercise of the supervisory role of the audit authorities, parliaments and the media, as well as cooperation between them.
He noted that his office had tried to investigate the Cyprus passport programme. However, it was faced with delays and limited access to the data requested, as the government refused to provide access to information. Their findings were confirmed by an Aljazeera documentary.
Following his report on the matter, there were threats to fire him, accusing him of misconduct, while the media reported that criminal charges would be brought against him.
He noted that preventing corruption is not the auditor's duty. The Auditor General detects a fraud and is required to report it to parliament through the executive.
He also stressed the important role of the media to be able to convey the message of the audit well.
In the closing remarks of the conference, Ambassador Igli Hasani, Coordinator of the OSCE Office of Economic and Environmental Activities, said that lawmakers are 10 years behind in regulating organized crime, as the latter constantly has new means to operate, such as cryptocurrencies Mr.In her closing speech, moderator Irene Charalambidou, Vice-President of the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly and Special Representative on Combating Corruption, said that independent institutions are very important and we must protect them. In particular, she pointed out the need to change the way independent officials are appointed to ensure their independence and avoid external interference in the performance of their duties. "People cannot be appointed by one person because they will feel indebted to him," he pointed out. He also said that "we must protect the media with legislation that prohibits interference in their work," adding that a change in culture, education and justice is necessary.
Margareta Cederfelt, President of the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly said that since corruption is globalized, multilateral cooperation to fight it is very important.
Source: CNA
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