Ex-Afghanistan President Ghani ranked second among 'most corrupt people' of 2021 by OCCRP

The Organized Crime and Corruption Reporting Project (OCCRP) has ranked former Afghanistan President Ashraf Ghani as one of the "most corrupt officials" of the year, 2021. Ghani, who fled the country after the Taliban's takeover, is only the second to Belarus President Alexander Lukashenko who topped the list of the "corrupt person of the year." In addition, Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, and former Austrian chancellor Sebastian Kurz were also among leaders in the list, reported OCCRP.

According to the OCCRP, Ghani deserved an "award" because he abandoned his people, putting them in a state of misery and death. Drew Sullivan, a co-founder of OCCRP and a judge on the panel, believes an award must be given to the former Afghan President for the corruption and incompetency. "Ghani certainly deserves an award because he was breath-taking in both his corruption and his gross incompetence. He deserted his people, leaving them to misery and death so he could live among the corrupt former state officials in the moral cesspool that is the UAE," said Sullivan, as per news agency ANI. 

The Panel included six journalists and scholars

Belarus President Lukashenko was named "Person of the Year" by a jury of six journalists and scholars who study and report on corruption. The panel included, Rawan Damen, Director General of Arab Reporters for Investigative Journalism (ARIJ); Will Fitzgibbon, senior reporter with the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists (ICIJ); Boyoung Lim, senior editor at the Pulitzer Center; Louise Shelley, author and endowed professor at George Mason University's Schar School of Policy and Government; Paul Radu, co-founder and Director of OCCRP; and Drew Sullivan. Sullivan stated that 2021 was the banner year for corruption and leaders like Lukashenko and Ghani took "maximum advantage" of it.  

According to OCCRP, Lukashenko has held power in Minsk since 1993, by forging elections, torturing critics, and arresting protesters, all with the help and consent of the Kremlin. Meanwhile, Syrian dictator Assad led his country into a devastating civil war and looted hundreds of millions of dollars. Turkish President Erdogan has governed a corrupt regime that has used state-owned banks to launder Chinese payments for Iranian oil. Meanwhile, Kurz was the head of the Austrian People's Party, and he was charged with the misappropriation of funds and bribery together with nine other politicians and journalists, according to the OCCRP report. 

(With inputs from ANI)

Image: AP