KUALA LUMPUR – The US government has lauded the Malaysian recipient of its International Anti-Corruption Champions Award, Cynthia Gabriel, for being steadfast in exposing graft in the face of harassment by authorities.
According to a diplomatic note issued by the US State Department’s Todd D. Robinson, Gabriel has worked to promote good governance and root out corruption at “the highest levels of government and business”.
“Despite harassment by authorities, she remains undeterred and continues to expose corruption and corrupt practices, including in government procurement, environmental exploitation, and political financing,” said Robinson, who is assistant secretary of the Bureau of International Narcotics and Law Enforcement Affairs.
His statement was issued following a ceremony hosted by the bureau in Washington DC yesterday, where Cynthia and several other activists from different countries received the award.
Cynthia is a founder of the Centre to Combat Corruption and Cronyism.
The other honorees are Antonio Cervantes García of Mexico, Jean de Dieu Rakotondramihamina (Madagascar), Stevan Dojcinovic (Serbia), Rozina Islam (Bangladesh), Marco Antonio Rueda Soto (Colombia), Qismah Salih Ali Mendeli (Iraq), and Janet Zhou (Zimbabwe).
Addressing the recipients during the event, US Secretary of State Antony J. Blinken noted that Cynthia had written about a trying time she went through when she was leading a campaign to highlight a massive government kickback scheme in Malaysia.
”She and her fellow advocates were dragged in for questioning. Their offices were raided,” he said.
“They were being smeared on TV and all across social media. Yet at precisely the moment she was feeling most beaten down, Cynthia wrote, and I quote: ‘An outpouring of support from ordinary people gave me new strength to work for change so that my country could begin to chart a more open and more transparent course’.
”So no matter how great the obstacles are that you face, I hope you remember the difference that your work is making for ordinary people,” he added.
Blinken launched the award in 2021 to recognise individuals who have demonstrated leadership, courage, and impact in preventing, exposing, and combating corruption.
He commended the latest batch of awardees for persisting in their work despite significant harassment and threats, including getting interrogated, detained, and prosecuted.
”All of this I know has been brutal on you and on your families. And yet the other thing that joins you together is you have refused to give up,” he said. ”You kept at it – out of a commitment to justice and to your fellow citizens.”
Prior to the ceremony, the honorees visited St. Petersburg, Florida, and Washington, D.C as part of a two-week International Visitor Leadership Programme to engage with American counterparts committed to countering corruption. – The Vibes, December 10, 2022
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