AFP - BERLIN Corruption watchdog Transparency International said on Friday it would give awards to two journalists including a Russian investigative reporter whose paper has seen four colleaues murdered since 2000.

The Berlin-based organisation said it would award its 2008 “Integrity Award” to Roman Shleynov from Russian daily Novaya Gazeta, and to David Leigh, Investigations Editor at Britain’s Guardian.

Four reporters from Novaya Gazeta have been brutally murdered since 2000, including Anna Politkovskya who was shot in October 2006.

Shleynov himself has attracted the attention of Russia’s FSB — formerly the KGB — for his reporting on corruption stories, including the exposing of a former nuclear energy minister for embezzlement.

Leigh has reported on the role of foreign bribery in securing business contracts in Britain, as well as corruption in national politics. “Demonstrating how corruption undermines accountability and the rule of law — as Leigh and Shleynov have done — is indispensable to challenging the abuse of power for privilege and illicit gains,” Sion Assidon, head of TI’s awards committee said. The awards will be presented in London on February 17.