Albania Rocked by Corruption Protests.

Earlier this week, protests centered around the alleged corruption of the ruling Socialist Party have shaken the country’s political foundations. The protests also came on the 33^rd anniversary of the toppling of the former dictator Enver Hoxha. According to a report by ABC opposition politicians, civil society is frustrated by the Albanian parliament not investigating allegations of corruption by Prime Minister Edi Rama and his cabinet. The protests also supported former prime minister and current opposition leader Sali Berisha, who is under house arrest facing corruption charges related to helping his son-in-law facilitate a real estate deal. I don’t see this situation resolved peacefully anytime soon, and I fear that a wave of political instability could affect Albania shortly.

Navalny pronounced dead by Putin’s Regime.

(A disclaimer for this article: I was at an event this morning held by the U.S Institute of Peace (USIP), an international relations think tank here in Washington DC, discussing the future of Russia post Putin).

The Russian prison authorities announced this morning that Alexi Navalny, the prominent critic of President Putin, was found dead in his cell. It has been reported that as of yesterday, Navalny was displaying his usual sense of humor, which is remarkable considering his situation. It has been well-known that Navalny was gravely ill and was being denied proper healthcare by the Russian government. According to a report by the Washington Post, fears for Navalny grew after he was arrested in January 2021 upon returning to Russia after recovering in Germany from an attempt on his life by the use of Novichok, a banned nerve agent. The response to Navalny’s death has been swift, according to a report by the New York Times. Navalny’s wife strode into the conference room where the Munich Security Conference (a well-known gathering of world leaders discussing international security issues) was held. She denounced Putin’s regime, openly reporting those in the audience spellbound. All of this raises the question: why does this matter?

The answer is that it matters a great deal. According to an article in the Post, Navalny was the main figurehead for anti-Putin opposition in Russia and worldwide, leading many protests within the country. However, more importantly, Navalny had a pioneering YouTube channel and organization that focused on the rampant corruption within Putin’s Russia. It is unclear what will happen next; at the event I attended today, several of the panelists stated that it is a fool’s errand to predict what might happen post-Putin and that it is likely that either Putin will have to die or that Ukraine will have to win the war decisively for Putin to be deposed. One can only hope that Navalny’s death, while tragic, can spur a new generation of Russian civil society to take on Putin and that the West will continue to fund Ukraine’s war effort.

Ex- Illinois Senator Arrested After Breaching Pre-trial Conditions.

This past Friday, the former Illinois republican state senator William “Sam” McCann was taken into custody after allegedly breaching his bail conditions before facing trial on corruption charges. According to a report by the local CBS affiliate in Chicago, McCann’s trial was supposed to start last week but was postponed when he failed to contact his probation officer and was admitted to a hospital in St Louis for an unspecified health issue. McCann is accused of taking money intended for his third-party gubernatorial campaign. McCann apparently spent $60,000 on an F-250 truck and a Ford Expedition SUV. It never ceases to amaze me what corrupt schemes politicians come up with; compared to the LA Councilman last week, this is small potatoes, but political powers in its many forms causes people to commit irrational actions.

70 Arrested in New York Housing Scandal.

Yesterday, an indictment in New York City was unsealed, alleging a massive kick-back scandal involving 70 New York City Housing Authority employees. According to a report in the New York Times, it is the largest number of bribery charges the Department of Justice has ever handed out, as seventy people were arrested. According to a report by the local NBC affiliate in New York, $2 million in bribes were demanded from $ 13 million worth of contracts. Most of the kickbacks were demanded before the work on houses or apartments were started as a way to grease the wheels. It appears that the house of cards at the Housing Authority finally came tumbling down.

Former LA Councilman Sentenced to 13 Years in Prison After Bribery Scandal.

Last week, a former Los Angeles councilman, Jose Huizar, was sentenced to 13 years after being found guilty of bribery and tax evasion charges. According to a report in the AP, Huizar was the chair of the Los Angeles Planning and Land Use Management Committee, allowing him to approve high-rise buildings and other large-scale developments. While in office, Huizar accepted $1.5 million in bribes, which included tickets to sporting events, casino chips, and political contributions. According to a report in The Hill, David Lee, the real estate developer involved with Huizar, will also serve time for his part in the plot. It is also curious to note that Huizar, at the time of his arrest, was trying to get his wife Richelle to take over his seat when his term ended in 2020. It is crystal clear that Huizar liked those two cornerstones of political life: power and money.

TI Corruption Index Shows a Decline in Law and Justice Causes a Rise in Corruption.

On Tuesday, Transparency International (TI) released its annual Corruption Perception Index, which shows how corrupt a country is perceived to be. TI ranks country from 0 to 100; the closer a country is to 0, the more corrupt it is; for example, Somalia was ranked 11 out of 100, meaning that TI views them as the most corrupt country in the world. On the other hand, Denmark was ranked 90 out of 100, meaning they were the least corrupt. According to TI’s website, the biggest threat to stopping corruption is the weakening of law & order worldwide, as there is a general lack of accountability from leaders in both democracies and authoritarian regimes. However, there is some good news: according to a report by the Atlantic Council, Ukraine has increased its score from 33 to 36 in the past year, which TI rates as one of the most considerable improvements globally.

Ukraine Embroiled in Another Corruption Scandal.

This past weekend, the Ukrainian government uncovered another large-scale corruption scandal involving missiles for the war effort. According to a report in Aljazeera, employees at a weapons manufacturer called Lviv Arsenal and members of the Ministry of Defense allegedly embezzled $40 million. It was intended to be a payment for missiles used in the war effort. Instead, the money was moved to several offshore accounts, and the military did not receive the 100,000 missiles they ordered. According to a report in NPR, the prosecutor general of Ukraine has announced that the funds have been recovered and will shortly be added to the defense budget. This scandal highlights two major issues. Firstly, corruption is still rife in Ukraine despite significant strides in anti-corruption efforts. Secondly, those 100,000 missiles would have been very handy for the war effort, and instead, several people decided to create a nice little earner for themselves.

Bulgaria and its connections with Russia & Corruption.

Bulgaria has a long and fraught history as a country where corruption has thrived for many years. According to an article in Forbes, Bulgaria is one of the only members of the EU that has not imposed sanctions on the Russian Federation as a state and on Russian individuals. Even Hungary, led by Viktor Orban, has imposed sanctions on Russia. Bulgaria’s lack of movement on sanctions is mainly because the government has close links to Russia at a governmental level and with the oligarchs. According to a report by the European Council on Foreign Relations, one of the main reasons for such a high level of influence is because of an attempted political coup by Russia in 2016. While the coup failed, like it did in Montenegro, it showed that Bulgarian society faces a massive challenge in eradicating Russian influence.

Update on Arevalo.

Back in August, I wrote a piece on the newly elected president of Guatemala, Bernardo Arevalo, who positioned himself as an anti-corruption activist. Last week, Arevalo was finally inaugurated, but only after a last-ditch attempt by his opponents to challenge his authority. According to an article in the New York Times, his opponents in Congress passed a budget that would severely restrict his ability to spend government funds on healthcare and education, two of his main priorities. There have also been numerous legal challenges by his conservative opponents, including a threat to arrest his vice president Karin Herrera on seemingly spurious and politically motivated challenges. In the coming months, Arevalo and Herrera will face further challenges to their authority from conservative opponents and organized criminal threats.

Update on Singapore Corruption.

Last July, Singapore, a country not traditionally known as a hotbed for corruption, indicted their transport minister on corruption and bribery charges. Yesterday, Subramanian Iswaran formally resigned from his post. According to a report by Reuters, Iswaran allegedly took bribes from a Singaporean property magnate called Ong Beng Seng. Records show that in return for advancing Seng’s business interests, Iswaran received tickets to sporting events and musicals and flights on Seng’s private jet. This all comes as a major surprise because, according to Transparency International, Singapore is ranked in the top five of the least corrupt countries in the world, paying their cabinet ministers some of the highest salaries in the world. Iswaran’s fate is still unknown, but one has to assume that Singapore will use him as an example to future ministers of what happens when you take bribes.