The Crime-Fighting Power of Cross-Border Investigative Journalism | Bektour Iskender | TED

譯者: Alexandra Peng 審譯者: Shelley Tsang 曾雯海

What makes organized crime strong?

是什麼讓組織型犯罪越來越茁壯？

It is very well-connected across borders.

是因為跨國間有非常良好的連結。

Criminal leaders can cooperate over long distances,

犯罪首腦們能遠距離合作，

build efficient logistics

建立高效率的後勤部隊，

and hide their wealth across many jurisdictions.

跨越多個司法管轄區藏匿他們的贓款。

How do we know about this?

我們是如何知道的？

One of the reasons is journalists.

其中原因之一是因為有記者。

We are often the first ones

我們常是首位釋出組織型犯罪網絡的龐大計畫的人。

to reveal the enormous schemes of organized crime networks.

At some point, journalists started connecting across borders, too.

同時，記者也開始跨國聯繫，交換資訊。

During the last decade,

過去十年來，

there was a number of groundbreaking, cross-border investigations

數十家媒體組織共同展開 多項開創性的跨國調查。

that had dozens of media organizations working together.

“Panama Papers” is probably one of the most famous

「巴拿馬文件」可能是新聞界跨國合作

of such cross-border journalism collaborations.

最有名的案件之一。

It had more than 100 media working on it;

當時有超過一百家媒體同時在處理，

it affected countries on every continent.

影響了各大洲的國家。

More importantly, it led to more than one billion dollars

更重要的是，有超過十億美元的贓款

to be recovered to the economies of the countries they were stolen from.

回收到被竊取的國家內。

Now let’s take a look at maps that show which countries were featured

現在來看看這張世界地圖。

in three major global investigations from 2016 to 2021.

這展示了從2016到2021年， 在全球三大案件中有參與的國家。

So this is “Panama Papers,”

這是「巴拿馬文件」

“Paradise Papers,”

「天堂文件」

“Pandora Papers.”

「潘朵拉文件」

As you can see, some countries keep being blank spots on these maps,

你們能看到，地圖上有些國家一直是空白點，

and one of them is Kyrgyzstan,

其中一個是吉爾吉斯共和國，

my home country.

我的家鄉。

And does it mean there is no organized crime in Kyrgyzstan

難道代表吉爾吉斯沒有犯罪組織或貪汙嗎？

or maybe no corruption?

No way.

不可能。

There is a lot of corruption in my country,

我的國家有一大堆貪汙案，

and organized crime is a pretty powerful force.

而犯罪組織更是強大的威脅。

Kyrgyzstan was just not covered in major global investigations

吉爾吉斯只是長年未涵蓋在 全球重大案件調查範圍中。

for a very long time.

I’m one of the founders of Kloop,

我是克洛普的創辦人之一，

a very unusual media organization

這媒體組織不同於其他，

that I co-founded in Kyrgyzstan back in 2007 with my friend, Rinat.

我和朋友里納特， 早在2007年就在吉爾吉斯共同創辦了它。

Initially it was just a news website and a journalism school.

最初只是新聞網站和新聞學院。

We would train journalists as young as 15 or 16

我們會培訓十五、六歲的年輕記者，

to cover politics,

讓他們報導關於政治、

human rights violations

人權侵犯，

and many, many other stories that happened in our country.

以及國內發生的眾多事件。

Throughout the years our journalists grew up,

這麼多年過去，記者們也長大成人，

and by the time they were in their early 20s,

到他們二十出頭的年紀，

they thought they were too experienced to just cover daily news.

他們覺得報導每日新聞早已駕輕就熟，

They wanted to take on more involved stories,

想要承接更深入的報導，

and they were eager to make a difference in Kyrgyzstan.

並渴望為吉爾吉斯帶來改變。

So we started publishing bigger investigations

所以我們與年輕又敬業的記者們

with our young and engaged journalists,

一起發布更大的調查新聞，

but there were some difficulties though.

但這也是有點困難的工作。

In some cases, we did not have enough resources or experience

在某些情況下，我們沒有足夠的資源或經驗

to work on very complicated stories,

去處理非常複雜的報導，

and sometimes it was just too scary.

有時只是故事太駭人了。

For example, once we even received a death threat

比如說，有一次甚至收到死亡威脅，

for trying to investigate criminal activities of the then-president’s son.

因為我們試圖調查時任總統兒子的犯罪活動。

And the problem was we didn’t know who could protect us,

而問題是，不知道誰能保護我們，

and we eventually had to drop this investigation.

最終只好放棄這項調查。

But then something important happened in 2017

但在2017年我們加入OCCRP的網絡時， 發生了重要的事。

when we joined the network of OCCRP,

Organized Crime and Corruption Reporting Project.

OCCRP是組織型犯罪與貪腐報告計畫組織。

It is an organization based in Bosnia.

這個組織位於波斯尼亞。

It was initially formed to unite the best investigative media outlets

最初是為了集結巴爾幹半島上 最優秀的調查媒體而成立，

from the Balkans,

and later it expanded its network to many other countries in Europe

之後擴展網絡至歐洲其他國家，

and then to Central Asia,

然後至中亞、

Middle East, Africa, Latin America.

中東、非洲及拉丁美洲。

And the goal of this organization is in its name:

組織的目標與其名稱相符：

to fight organized crime and corruption with journalism.

藉由新聞界擊破組織型犯罪與貪腐之事。

We were the first Central Asian member of this network,

我們是網絡中首個中亞成員，

and oh, how many changes it has brought.

而我們帶來很大的改變。

We turned Kyrgyzstan from a blank spot on the map

吉爾吉斯原本只是地圖上的空白點，

into a country where organized crime and corruption are investigated

但我們對於組織型犯罪及貪汙， 用前所未有的方式展開調查。

as never before.

In 2019, we joined our efforts with OCCRP and also with Radio Liberty,

2019年，我們與OCCRP

a media organization based in Czech Republic,

和位於捷克共和國的媒體組織：自由電台，

and Bellingcat, an Investigative Center from the UK.

還有英國的調查中心：鈴鐺貓一起合作。

And together we published a series of investigations

我們共同發表一系列

about an underground cargo empire.

關於地下貨運帝國的調查。

A secretive family clan that transported goods from China to Central Asia

一個隱密的家族從中國運送貨物到中亞，

and didn’t pay all the taxes and tariffs,

但沒有付任何一毛關稅。

if you know what I mean.

你們應該懂我的意思。

In order to do that,

為了做這檔事，

they bribed the Kyrgyzstan Customs Service,

他們賄絡吉爾吉斯的海關，

and a significant chunk of this bribe went to this person:

而接受這筆重金賄絡的人是：

Raimbek Matraimov,

萊姆貝克·馬特賴莫夫，

the Deputy Head of Kyrgyzstan’s Customs.

吉爾吉斯海關的副主任。

Our investigations revealed

我們的調查指出

that even high-ranking officials in Kyrgyzstan are involved in corruption,

甚至是吉爾吉斯的高階官員， 都涉及貪污事件，

poisoning their whole institutions with the worst possible practices.

他們用最糟的方法毒害了整個機構。

People in Kyrgyzstan were outraged when they read this,

當吉爾吉斯人民讀完這份報導簡直氣炸了，

and this led to an unprecedented chain reaction.

引發前所未有的連鎖反應。

So first there were protests in Kyrgyzstan

首先是在國內各地發起抗議行動，

because of what was published in the investigation itself.

因為那些公開的調查內容。

A year later, in 2020, even larger protests happened

隔年，2020年， 發生了更大的抗議活動，

when some of the politicians who were featured in our investigations

有些政客的名字出現在我們的調查中，

had their party taking second place in the Parliament elections.

讓他們的黨在議會選舉中只成了第二名。

As a result of these larger protests,

由於這些大型抗議活動，

Parliament election results were annulled,

此次議會選舉結果作廢、政權換了，

government was changed

and eventually the president of the country was forced to resign.

最終連總統都被迫下台。

(Applause)

(掌聲)

But this investigation was important not only for Kyrgyzstan.

但這項調查不只對吉爾吉斯來說很重要。

Remember I told you about this family clan

記得我剛剛提到的，

that started this scheme in the first place?

首次使用這計畫的那個家族？

They earned a lot of money in Central Asia.

他們在中亞賺進大把鈔票。

We revealed and had evidence of at least 800 million dollars

我們有證據的揭露他們的買賣

that went through their business,

至少賺了八億美元，

and the real figure might be even higher.

而實際數字甚至可能更高。

And where exactly did they spend their money?

那他們到底把錢花去哪了？

Well, they bought this house in Los Angeles, California,

他們在加州洛杉磯買了這棟房子，

and this mansion in the UK;

還有這棟在英國的豪宅，

they started a construction project in Augsburg, Germany;

於德國奧古斯堡有個建案，

they bought many apartments in Dubai.

在杜拜買下多間公寓。

In other words,

換句話說，

there is probably no such thing as local organized crime investigation.

他們或許與當地組織型犯罪不同。

Because of how organized crime is structured,

因為組織型犯罪的結構，

almost every investigative story about it has at least a regional significance,

幾乎每個調查至少具有地區性的意義，

and in many cases it has a global significance.

在許多情況下，這具有全球性的意義。

So now there are several messages that I want to deliver today.

所以現在，有幾個訊息是我今天想要傳達的。

Message number one:

第一：

journalism networks are actually very efficient and important.

新聞網絡確實非常有效率也非常重要。

You don’t need 100 media organizations for every investigation.

每個調查不需都要動用一百家媒體組織，

You know, like in our case, we only had four,

你們知道，像我們的案子只有四個組織，

and it was already a huge game-changer.

這已經是很大的改變了。

And for local media organizations like Kloop,

對像克洛普這種當地媒體組織來說，

this is also a safety measure.

也是一種安全措施。

As I mentioned before,

像我先前提到的。

working on investigations alone is scary.

獨自展開調查是很可怕的。

Within our network we not only share knowledge or resources,

藉由網路，我們不只共享知識與資源，

but we also care about each other, and we keep each other secure.

我們也關心彼此、保障彼此的安全。

Message number two:

第二：

support local media organizations all around the world.

支持世界各地的當地媒體組織。

When global journalism collaborations first began,

首次舉辦全球新聞合作時，

it was mostly media from Europe or the Americas

主要由歐洲或美國

that would have a leading role

握有豐富資源的媒體， 能扮演領導者的角色。

as they had the greatest resources.

But media organizations from other continents are very important too.

但其他國家的媒體組織也一樣很重要。

We have unique expertise, insights and connections.

我們具備獨特的專業知識、見解和人脈。

Before I move to the third and final message,

在我講第三個，也是最後的訊息前，

I want to share something personal with you.

我想與大家分享一個私人的事情。

Last year I moved to Ukraine

我去年移民烏克蘭，

because Kloop planned to start a new regional media project there,

因為克洛普打算在那邊開創一個新的當地媒體計畫，

and we are now forced to do it in another country

但現在我們被迫到另一個國家執行，

because this man was belligerent enough to invade Ukraine,

因為這好戰的傢伙入侵烏克蘭，

the country that became my second home.

也就是我的第二個家。

But I want to highlight a role of another country in this war:

但在這場戰爭中， 我想特別強調一個國家：

Belarus.

白俄羅斯。

Belarus is very corrupt.

白俄羅斯非常腐敗。

It has been run by Alyaksandr Lukashenka,

由亞歷山大·盧卡申卡統治，

a dictator that has been ruling this country since the 1990s.

他是個獨裁者， 從1990年代開始獨裁這個國家。

Lukashenka did something unthinkable.

盧卡申卡做了件不可思議的事。

He provided the territory of Belarus to the Russian army

他提供白俄羅斯的領土給俄羅斯軍隊，

to attack Ukraine from the north.

讓他們從北方進攻烏克蘭。

One of the similarities between Belarus and Kyrgyzstan

白俄羅斯與吉爾吉斯有一相似之處，

is that both our countries are small

就是我們的國土都很小，

and get little attention from global media.

而且在全球媒體上很少被關注。

At the same time,

同時，

for decades, local media in Belarus did not have enough resources

幾十年來，白俄羅斯的當地媒體並沒有足夠的資源，

or safety measures to thoroughly investigate Lukashenka

或是安全措施， 讓他們能徹底調查盧卡申卡，

and corrupt officials around him.

和他身邊貪腐的官員。

The thing is, Lukashenka is not really a super powerful leader

事實上，盧卡申卡在世界規模中， 並不真正是個具超強能力的領導者。

of global magnitude.

Unlike Putin, he could [have been] weakened years ago.

不像普丁，他的勢力可能在幾年前就被削弱了。

What helped him stay in power was massive pressure on civil society,

這幫他在如此高壓的社會上，

on local media

和當地媒體，

and lack of financial measures from other countries.

及缺少其他國家財務救助的情況下持續掌權。

If the global community took stronger action against Lukashenka,

若國際社會對盧卡申卡採取強硬行動，

if local media were stronger and better linked with global networks,

若當地媒體與全球網絡有更深、更好的連結，

I believe Russia could have lost its key ally a long, long time ago.

我相信俄羅斯可能早在很久很久以前 就失去了關鍵的盟友。

A better-timed collaborative journalism investigation could save many lives.

記者在好的時機下合作調查， 能挽救很多生命。

So here I come to my final message.

接下來是最後的訊息。

Let's leave criminals and corrupt officials without access to their money

讓罪犯及貪腐官員無法取得他們的資金，

before it’s [too late].

在事態更糟之前。

This is where journalists need help from activists,

這就是記者需要幫助的地方， 不只是激進主義者，

politicians

還有政客，

and even bankers,

甚至是銀行行員，

not just from each other.

不單單只有記者們互助而已。

We must expand our cross-border networks outside of the media world too,

我們也必須在社群媒體之外， 擴大我們的跨國網絡，

because every exposed, corrupt official,

因為揭露每個貪汙官員、

every arrested organized crime leader

逮捕每個犯罪組織首腦，

is a chance to protect our world not only from smugglers and thieves,

都是保護世界的機會。

危害世界的不只有走私販和或竊賊，

but also from dictators and warmongers.

還有獨裁者和戰爭份子。

Thank you.

感謝。

(Applause and cheers)

(掌聲及喝采)