ASSISTANT SECRETARY ROBINSON: Good afternoon, everyone. Welcome to this fireside chat where we are honored to be joined by the U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken and three recently announced Anti-Corruption Champion awardees: Rozina Islam, Janet Zhou, and Stevan Dojcinovic. We are thrilled to have you all here with us, as we begin to wrap up a very successful week of events here at the ICC.
Over the last few days, we discussed the threat that corruption poses to the rule of law and good governance as well as anti-corruption’s role in building a fair and sustainable future for all. We’ve also discussed best tools in combatting criminal networks and kleptocrats, and what the fight against corruption may look like in the future. During this session, we will discuss what that fight looks like on the ground with the three brave anti-corruption defenders, who just this morning, were conferred with the U.S. Department of State Anti-Corruption Champions Award.
This award recognizes individuals who have demonstrated leadership, courage, and impact in preventing, exposing, and combatting corruption. Before I introduce the Secretary and our three champions on stage, I would like to take a moment to recognize all of the 2022 Anti-Corruption Champions who are with us today in the audience. The 2022 ACCA awardees, would you please stand up? (Applause.) Thank you for the tireless work that you do every day to further the fight against corruption.
I will now introduce our fireside chat participants, beginning with the Secretary of State Antony Blinken. Antony J. Blinken is the 71st U.S. secretary of state. He previously served as deputy secretary of state for President Barack Obama from 2015 to 2017; and before that as President Obama’s principal deputy national security advisor. Thank you, Mr. Secretary, for joining us today. (Applause.)
SECRETARY BLINKEN: Thank you.
ASSISTANT SECRETARY ROBINSON: I now introduce our Anti-Corruption Champions, beginning with today’s awardee from Bangladesh, Rozina Islam. Rozina is a fearless special correspondent for the daily Prothom Alo newspaper and has broken major news stories exposing corruption and abuse of power by Bangladesh’s ruling party. (Applause.)
Her investigative reports exposed how corrupt government officials looted public money, during COVID-19, by using loopholes in the health system, and how health officials offer bribes to recruit doctors, and how lifesaving equipment worth millions of dollars piled up at the airport waiting for customs clearance while the health officials stood by.
In a country where democratic space is shrinking, press freedom is under serious pressure from state agencies, and where few women choose and practice journalism as a profession, Islam is an inspiring exception.
Next, we are pleased to welcome Stevan Dojcinovic, who along with his anti-corruption investigative outlet KRIK has exposed significant corruption in Serbia and shone a light into the murky networks of organized crime in Serbia and the Western Balkans – and their corrupt connections with government. He and his team have uncovered massive drug smuggling operations and provided the basis for police actions in the Western Balkans, with substantial downstream impacts on the drug trade in Europe and beyond. KRIK was the only outlet in Serbia that exhaustively researched allegations stemming from the 2021 Pandora Papers, which ensnared numerous high-level Serbian officials in allegations of money laundering and other financial crimes. Welcome, Stevan. (Applause.)
Finally, I am pleased to introduce Janet Zhou, the executive director of the Zimbabwe Coalition on Debt and Development. Janet has led successful efforts to increase citizen agency to demand – to increase citizen agency to demand accountability and transparency in Zimbabwe. Through the #HowFar campaign, Janet has raised awareness of the government’s…