Better law to protect whistle-blowers

THE cabinet has approved a bill proposed by the justice ministry that will protect citizens reporting corruption cases both in the private and state sector, it was announced on Friday.

“The protection of whistle-blowers is crucial to the discovery and effective investigation and prosecution of criminal activity in this area,” the justice ministry said.

It added that the completion of the existing legal protection framework for witnesses, particularly with regard to whistle-blowers, which present difficulty in solving the reported offences, will strengthen investigating and prosecuting authorities.

The bill encourages citizens to step up and report cases of corruption, the ministry said, as, aside from additional protection measures for whistle blowers, it provides for leniency measures for those involved, but who fully cooperate with the authorities to uncover and prosecute everyone implicated in the reported corruption case.

The bill was prepared in cooperation with the Attorney-general, it said, so that the regulations complement the existing measures protecting witnesses and collaborators.

This is the fourteenth bill prepared by the justice ministry aimed at transparency, promotion of good governance and accountability.

The ministry said that four nore bills are being drafted, two of which have already been sent for vetting and are expected to be returned for approval to the cabinet.

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.