Organised Crime and Corruption Reporting Project asked for nominations from its readers, journalists, the Person of the Year judges, and others in the OCCRP global network.
The finalists who received the most votes this year were the President of Kenya, William Ruto; former President of Indonesia, Joko Widodo; President of Nigeria, Bola Ahmed Tinubu; former Prime Minister of Bangladesh, Sheikh Hasina; and Indian businessman Gautam Adani.
Since 2012, OCCRP’s ‘Person of the Year‘ award has singled out those who do the most to wreak havoc around the world through organised crime and corruption. An expert panel of judges across civil society, academia, and journalism chooses the winner.
“There’s only one prize whose winners include foul-mouthed Filipino leader Rodrigo Duterte, authoritarian Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev, and cigarette-smuggling, gangster-loving Montenegrin Premier Milo Djukanovic.
“It’s OCCRP’s ‘Person of the Year’ award, which since 2012 has singled out those who do the most to wreak havoc around the world through organized crime and corruption,” OCCRP said on its website.
It added, “With this honour, OCCRP aims to promote accountability by shining a light on those judged to have done the most to bolster corruption and the political collusion that often accompanies it.
“After a first round of nominations from journalists and members of the public, a group of judges with expertise in organized crime and corruption selects a winner and finalists.”
