Whistleblowing initiative complete, says KNAB

The Corruption Prevention and Combating Bureau (KNAB) said June 26 it has concluded a more than three-year-long project called “Support for the establishment of a whistle-blowing system in Latvia” that was co-financed by the European Economic Area (EEA) grant program.

The goal of the project was to promote reporting of corruption and criminal activity by providing a secure reporting channel.

KNAB said it had "successfully implemented three main project activities: introduction of a new reporting platform, implementation of two public awareness campaigns, and also taking of a variety of measures to strengthen the investigative and analytical capacities of KNAB.

KNAB Director Jēkabs Straume said the project had "strengthened the capacities and skills of KNAB both in dealing with whistle-blowers and also in investigating corruption offences."

The main thrust of the project was the development of the 'Ziņo KNAB!' (Report to KNAB!) platform which went live last September, allowing whistleblowers to anonymously report suspected wrongdoing in an encrypted form.

The anti-graft agency said it had also conducted 13 "major training sessions" and 11 foreign exchanges, and that it "strengthened the competences of more than 850 individuals" in financial investigations and cross-border crime.

In addition, three opinion polls were carried out as part of the project to ascertain the attitudes of the Latvian population and businesses towards corruption. Over the three-year period, there has been "minimal change" in the attitudes of both people and businesses towards bribery, KNAB said.

More information on the whistleblowing initiative is found here.

Seen a mistake?

Select text and press Ctrl+Enter to send a suggested correction to the editor

Select text and press Report a mistake to send a suggested correction to the editor

Related articles

More

Most important