How to spot an anti-corruption hero

Sophie Brown is a Communications Assistant at Transparency International and heads the Integrity Awards programme at TI. She wrote about the programme for Trust Law. This is the introduction; her full article is available here.

Madame Duc and Sophie Brown

At nearly 80 years of age and standing less than five feet tall, Le Hien Duc is not what you expect when you hear the words “corruption fighter”. But the retired school teacher has an impressive record for pursuing corrupt officials in her native Vietnam.

I met Madame Duc attending a global conference on corruption in Bangkok last November. It was the day before Transparency International (TI) presented its Integrity Awards to three exceptional individuals for their efforts in tackling graft, including Sergei Magnitsky, who died in prison because he blew the whistle on tax fraud. Madame Duc was a recipient of the award in 2007…. Read the full story here.

Nominations for the 2011 Integrity Awards are open to the public and can be made by 30 June at www.transparency.org/integrityawards.