Tuesday 14 November, 6:00 – 7:00 pm, Pavilion Room
“Kleptocrats – rulers who use their power to steal their country’s resources – are some of the worst abusers of human rights.
- They suppress independent media that could prompt public indignation by exposing their crimes.
- They have impunity in their own countries because they control the administration of justice.”
“A proposed International Anti-Corruption Court would prosecute and punish them for their crimes, and create the opportunity for those kleptocrats to be succeeded by leaders who will protect human rights, including freedom of speech.”
Burhan Sönmez, President of PEN International, will discuss this, and other issues – including why authors so often support the tyrants who rule their countries – with Senior United States District Judge Mark L. Wolf, Chair of Integrity Initiatives International. The conversation will also focus on these questions:
- How corruption is eroding democratic institutions
- How corruption, while relying on financial power, corrupts all structures of society, from the justice system to the function of the press
All are welcome to attend, including non college members. Please sign up in the usual way, using the Eventbrite link, click here
- Mark L. Wolf is a Senior United States District Judge and Chair of Integrity Initiatives International, which has catalyzed and is coordinating the campaign to create the International Anti-Corruption Court. He is also an avid reader of literature and poetry.
- Burhan Sönmez is a Kurdish novelist from Turkey. He worked as a lawyer in Istanbul before going to exile in Britain for political reasons. He was elected the President of PEN International, the worldwide organisation of writers, two years ago.
