Speakers:

• Paul Radu, investigative journalist and co-founder of OCCRP

• Oliver Bullough, UK journalist and author of Moneyland

• Sarah Clarke, Head of Europe and Central Asia, ARTICLE 19

• Susan Coughtrie, Project Director at the Foreign Policy Centre  

Investigative journalists from across the world have repeatedly exposed how financial and legal systems – including those in the UK and its overseas jurisdictions - have been abused to facilitate corruption by their ruling elites, opaque businesses and criminal enterprises. They have often done this in the face of significant challenges to their own safety and security.

This event, held as part of the Foreign Policy Centre’s ‘Unsafe for Scrutiny’ project, kindly supported by the Justice for Journalists Foundation, will launch and discuss the findings of a new report that examines the scale and scope of the pressures facing investigative journalists who work to bring financial crime and corruption to light around the world.

The report is based on the results of a recent global survey that was conducted with the assistance of the Organized Crime and Corruption Reporting Project (OCCRP), the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists (ICIJ) and the Global Investigative Journalism Network (GIJN). This event, held on the International Day to End Impunity for Crimes against Journalists, will explore the range of threats and risks experienced by journalists working in this field and the wider impact of corruption on media freedom around the world.  

The panellists will also examine how weaknesses in UK’s financial and legal systems, which have led it to be one of the hotspots for the facilitation of global corruption, play into the broader spectrum of pressure on journalists, as well as the further steps the UK could take to support the safety and security of journalists and media freedom – a global priority of the UK government – as part of its broader anti-corruption efforts.

Cover image, with changes under CC.