The murder of investigative journalist Jan Kuciak, who was looking into fraud tied to the government and organized crime led Prime Minister Robert Fico to step down but tens of thousands protesters in the streets of the capital Bratislava...
Greece’s anti-money laundering authority has reportedly recommended that the former Chairman of Piraeus Bank, one of the country’s big four, face charges over the sale of five properties it said could be tied to his family. The agency said Michalis Sallas is culpable for the 2016 sale of the properties to a Cypriot firm even though he wasn’t at the bank at the time, which he noted in denying any wrongdoing. “There are strong indications that Mr. Sallas and other members of Piraeus management who participated in the deals are guilty of malfeasance,” the agency said, adding that the deals cost the bank, already awash in bad loans, some 6.4 million euros ($7.91 million), according to a report by financial news agency Bloomberg.
Blueprint's new report series on whistleblower protection in Europe shows that protections are still low across EU countries. Whistleblowers need stronger, more comprehensive laws - and those laws need to work in practice. 'Gaps in the System' evaluates specific whistleblower...
The Council of Europe and its Group of States Against Corruption (GRECO) said in a pair of reports that Greece needs more openness in how political parties are funded – from taxpayer subsidies – and more needs to be...
Greece is gripped by a story the Swiss-based pharmaceutical company Novartis paid 10 rivals to the ruling party as much as 50 million euros over a decade to fix prices and control the flu shot market. The government said...
European Union officials fear the murder of a Slovak journalist, coming after the recent killing of Malta’s best-known investigative journalist, could create a chilling effect on reporters and target democracy. Jan Kuciak, 27, reported for the news site Aktuality.sk on...
Blueprint’s Head of Technical & Security Peter Tonoli provided a technical perspective on the challenges that journalists face in protecting their whistleblowers at the Sydney launch of a ground-breaking UNESCO report. Hosted by the Walkley Foundation, the panel event...
A global coalition of NGOs and encryption experts is calling on governments of the "Five Eyes" nations (USA, UK, Australia, Canada and New Zealand) to defend the use of strong encryption by private citizens. Protecting strong encryption is important for...
Across nations of Africa, it has long been recognised that widespread corruption in many countries has been a major contributing factor in inequality and a barrier to progress. In 2016, of the top ten most corrupt countries ranked by...
Blueprint for Free Speech applauds the release of whistleblower and Blueprint Prize recipient Chelsea Manning on 17 May 2017. Chelsea won the Blueprint Enduring Impact Whistleblowing Prize in 2016. We applaud President Obama's correct decision to commute Chelsea's sentence. Chelsea...
Chelsea Manning, the winner of the 2016 Blueprint for Free Speech Enduring Impact Award, this week received a commutation of her 35-year sentence from outgoing US President Barack Obama. Commenting on his decision at his final press conference in...
After months of disagreement and debate that resembled a political soap opera, French lawmakers finally have granted expanded rights to employees who report threats to the public interest. The new whistleblower measures include many European and international standards, including retaliation...