# The week in corruption, 18 January URL: https://www.transparency.org/en/blog/the-week-in-corruption-18-january Type: Blog Published: 2019-01-18 Updated: 2020-04-15 --- ![](https://images.transparencycdn.org/images/0_WOa3tdtskCgY_cvx.jpg?auto=compress&fit=crop&fm=webp&w=650&h=365.625) Posted on: 18 January 2019 ![Transparency International logo](https://images.transparencycdn.org/images/TI-logo_Medium.png?auto=compress&fit=crop&fm=webp&w=1200) Transparency Int'l *Anti-corruption needs journalism* Not even a month into 2019 and we are once again disturbingly reminded of the risks many journalists take when reporting on corruption. Deeply shocked, we [**condemn the** **heinous** **murder**](https://transparencyinternational.createsend1.com/t/r-l-jtiydjlt-l-d/) of Ghanaian undercover journalist **Ahmed Hussein-Suale**, who was shot and killed this week after a politician called for retribution against him. He worked on an [undercover investigation](https://transparencyinternational.createsend1.com/t/r-l-jtiydjlt-l-h/) with the BBC about corruption in the country’s football leagues, which we mentioned [in one of our newsletters](https://transparencyinternational.createsend1.com/t/r-l-jtiydjlt-l-k/)last June, shortly before the FIFA World Cup. Hussein-Suale was a member of Tiger Eye Private Investigations and worked alongside prominent Ghanaian journalist Anas Aremeyaw Anas. They exposed bribe-taking and caused the resignation of a high-level FIFA referee who was due to work at last summer’s World Cup. This also led to the Ghanaian national football association being dissolved. Over in Turkey, journalist **Pelin Ünker**, a member of the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists (ICIJ), was found guilty of “defamation and insult” and sentenced to 13 months jail for her work on the [Paradise Papers](https://transparencyinternational.createsend1.com/t/r-l-jtiydjlt-l-u/) investigation into offshore tax havens. Turkey has the [world’s worst record for jailing journalists](https://transparencyinternational.createsend1.com/t/r-l-jtiydjlt-l-o/), with 68 in prison at the end of 2018, according to the Committee to Protect Journalists. All the jailed reporters are facing charges of crimes against the state. Journalists play a vital role in exposing the corrupt and their methods, and too often they face threats, violence, arrest, and death as a result. Since 1992, at least 281 journalists [have been killed](https://transparencyinternational.createsend1.com/t/r-l-jtiydjlt-l-b/) and since 2017 at least 190 journalists [have been incarcerated](https://transparencyinternational.createsend1.com/t/r-l-jtiydjlt-l-n/) worldwide for reporting on corruption. Only when wrongdoing is uncovered can the corrupt be held to account. Those who expose corruption must be protected, not intimidated, incarcerated or murdered. **How can we better protect journalists? Tell us on** [**Twitter**](https://transparencyinternational.createsend1.com/t/r-l-jtiydjlt-l-p/)**!** For any press inquiries please contact