Civil society and the mass media are important rings in the corruption fighting process. The first can contribute to sensitizing society in general, while the press can inform the people about the acts of corruption and the imposed punishment, Daniel Seiberling, the representative of the German foundation Hanns Seidel, said in a news conference at IPN, which centered on the launch in Moldova of the Anticorruption Labyrinth – a construction in the open air that will enable the people to inform themselves about corruption and methods of reporting acts of corruption.
Daniel Seiberling stated that the corruption prevention process is very important because an exceptional result can be achieved by small steps. The Hanns Seidel Foundation supports different projects to promote democracy in over 50 states of the world. Though the perception of corruption in Germany is at a lower level than in Moldova and Romania, Germany is not protected from this risk either. There are different institutions in Germany that often implement new projects to sensitize the people to the phenomenon of corruption.
The representative of the Hanns Seidel Foundation also said that civil society must always speak to the people about the services for which these must not pay, while the mass media must inform the people about new corrupt persons identified by the law enforcement bodies and the punishment they got so that they do not become victims of corruption themselves. The mass media must demand to be told about the developments in one case or another and how a politician, minister or businessman caught taking bribe was punished.
According to Daniel Seiberling, in a democratic society affected by corruption, some of the persons from the central administration should become involved in the fight against corruption so as to give an example to society.
The Anticorruption Labyrinth is set up in Moldova with the support of the Association “Pro-Democratia” of Romania. Project manager Iuliana Iliescu said that this initiative achieved a greater result than the simple distribution of leaflets. The Labyrinth arouses curiosity and the people enter it to inform themselves. Afterward, these can get answers to their questions directly from the attending experts.
Within the Anticorruption Labyrinth event in Chisinau, there will be carried out a survey to find out the most corrupt institution in the perception of the Moldovan people.