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Association of Corporate Investigators
Speaking up for Change
How Figen Murray changed the law following her son’s murder.
Ahead of World Whistleblowing Day this June, we talk to Figen Murray about her speak-up journey which culminated in the creation of Martyn’s Law. The new Law has been drafted following the Manchester arena atrocity, in which Figen’s son died. It was Figen’s direct action that drove the change, for which she has been honoured with an OBE. Figen will discuss what she went through to raise concerns about security at venues in the UK, and through her example, we’ll learn why speaking up is so vital if we want to drive change.
Panel
Figen Murray
Figen was born in Istanbul and moved to Germany at the age of two in 1963. Twenty years later, she moved to the UK for a new adventure. On the 22nd May 2017, life as she knew it changed forever. Her son, Martyn Hett, was one of the 22 people killed in the devastating Manchester Arena terrorist attack. Figen is the driving force behind Martyn’s Law, a legislation that will require venues with a capacity of 100+ to improve security against the threat of terrorism, train staff, and require all venues to have a counter-terrorism plan in place.
This began in early 2019 in Figen’s kitchen as an online petition. Since then, Figen has been working with a team of co-campaigners and meeting government officials and ministers regularly to formulate how her vision would be put into practice and implemented as law.
Figen has completed a Master’s Degree in counter-terrorism which helped her to gain a sound knowledge base on what should be incorporated into the legislation. She was awarded an Honorary Doctorate from Salford University in 2022, and made a Visiting Fellow at the Institute of Strategic Risk Management (ISRM). In recognition of her efforts within the security industry, Figen was awarded the Outstanding Contribution Award at the 2020 Counter Terror Awards. Figen was awarded an OBE in the 2022 New Year’s Honours List. You can read more about Figen here: www.figenmurray.co.uk
Simon’s extensive international experience in corporate investigations includes significant Employee Misconduct, Fraud, Bribery, Corruption, Antitrust & Competition, AML, Sanctions, Market Abuse and commensurate preventative / remedial measures. His 30 years of expertise in major investigation management, covert and overt intelligence gathering, relationship and stakeholder management, Ethics / Compliance / Integrity related investigations and reviews demonstrate his proven ability to facilitate consensus through negotiation and collaborate with senior management across all geographies.