Whistleblowers bill heads to AG’s office

A bill to enable and protect whistleblowers is currently with the Attorney general’s office and will be submitted to the new parliament, Justice Minister Ionas Nicolaou said on Tuesday.

According to Nicolaou, the bill will protect those reporting corruption in both the public and the private sector. The bill provides for the protection of the complainant as long as the person is not using it for personal gain.

A person providing information should not fear for consequences dealt out by their superiors at work, be it the public or the private sector, Nicolaou said.

The bill, which is to be tabled before the new parliament, will be “an additional tool to help reveal and investigate more cases,” he said.

He added that in 2014, ten cases have been reported, which were all investigated and solved, while last year, there were 27 cases, 24 of which have been solved.

“The period of impunity is long gone”, Nicolaou said, “as each complaint and each case reported, will be investigated to the end, and in-depth”.

The Cyprus Mail is the only English-language daily newspaper published in Cyprus. It was established in 1945 and today, with its popular and widely-read website, the Cyprus Mail is among the most trusted news sites in Cyprus. The newspaper is not affiliated with any political parties and has always striven to maintain its independence. Over the past 70-plus years, the Cyprus Mail, with a small dedicated team, has covered momentous events in Cyprus’ modern history, chronicling the last gasps of British colonial rule, Cyprus’ truncated independence, the coup and Turkish invasion, and the decades of negotiations to stitch the divided island back together, plus a myriad of scandals, murders, and human interests stories that capture the island and its -people. Observers describe it as politically conservative.