“The fight against corruption requires effective surveillance.”
The fight against corruption requires effective oversight by supervisors, parliament and the media, and cooperation between them, Auditor Odyssey Michaelides said Saturday.
He spoke in the context of a conference entitled “Fighting Corruption, Defending Democracy” held by the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (Osce PA).
The third and final session of the conference was introduced by former Attorney General Costas Clerides, focusing on the contribution of independent bodies and the media to the prevention and combat of corruption.
Michaelides was the last speaker of the conference.
He said his office tried to investigate citizenship through an investment scheme, but faced delays and restrictions in access to the requested data as the government refused to provide access to the information. rice field. Their findings were confirmed by a documentary in Al Jazeera.
Following his report on the matter, the Chief Auditor accused him of being illegal and said he could dismiss him, but the media reported that he would be prosecuted.
He said the auditor’s job was not to prevent corruption, but to detect flaws that were left to report to Congress.
He also emphasized the importance of the media in communicating the function of this role to the public.
In her closing remarks, moderator Irene Charalambides, Vice President of the Osce PA, and a special representative on the fight against corruption said that independent institutions are very important, “and we must protect them.” Said.
“People cannot be appointed alone, because they feel obliged to them,” she added. “We must protect the media with laws that prohibit media intervention in the work,” she said, adding that cultural, educational and impartiality changes are needed.
Margareta Cederfelt, President of Osce PA, said corruption has been globalized and multilateral cooperation to combat it is paramount.
https://cyprus-mail.com/2022/05/28/fight-against-corruption-requires-effective-monitoring/ “The fight against corruption requires effective surveillance.”
