Industry giant
Described by researchers as the "powerful" and "explosive", the two reports, released by STOP - a global tobacco industry watchdog in partnership with
The researchers found that in order to maintain BAT's tobacco monopoly in
It included the use of a BAT surveillance and informant network in
The reports claim that BAT appeared to be operating "as if it were above the law," according to the report on
The documents gathered for the report suggest that in
"Evidence appears to connect BAT to hand-delivered cash, cars, per diems and campaign donations to dozens of politicians, civil servants, journalists as well as people working at competitor companies," said the report.
Pay to push cigarettes on Africans
These payments "may have helped" to influence health policies in key African countries, too.
"We spent years of analysis of the payments, the documents and we came to conclusion that 226 payments totaling
All of this culminates in a push to sell cigarettes to Africans--products known to cause tobacco-related illness, death and economic harm--across the region.
The second report is based on six years of work and outlines how the company made hundreds of payment that took multiple forms. Both reports came out after looking at tens of thousands of leaked documents.
Did #BritishAmericanTobacco try to buy influence in
The whistleblower documents connected to BAT's work in East and
Researchers identified 236 payments made between 2008 and 2013 totaling US
"And in nearly 25 years of working in tobacco industry--I must have read in excess of millions of documents--and to me these are the most powerful. They are the most explosive and they are the ones to demand answers from BAT and regulators," says Rowell, during the press conference.
Contributing to deaths across the continent
Tobacco dependency is growing in
"We all know with the potential for the industry to make profits is that
"Companies like BAT with their major shareholders in
Cross-border corruption
While the allegations of corruption are not new, what is most explosive about these new ones is the scale of their deeds, says Rachel Kitonyo Devotsu, Regional Coordinator for
"It just shows that BAT is willing to work across borders and across different areas of tobacco control policy to achieve its agenda," Devotsu told
"When they try to control illicit trade in tobacco products and security concerns over smuggling and related transnational crimes, regulators must take action," she adds.
She says that in light of the revelations, tobacco control advocates and the media need to keep showcasing the allegations so that potentially illegal activities of BAT are not swept under the carpet.
"The
"Local law enforcement agencies in the countries mentioned in the reports should seek assistance from the
The reports comes on the heels of an ongoing court case in the high court in
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