Malta Will Revise Whistleblower Act to Meet EU Directive, Add Protection

Malta is moving to strengthen protection for those who report wrongdoing.

The Whistleblower’s Act is set to be revised by the end of the year to comply with the European Union Whistleblowing Directive. Justice Minister Edward Lewis pledged the transposition would happen within the EU deadline, reported Newsbook.

The NGO Repubblika, a human rights and civil society movement on the island, was not impressed with the promise, stating that whistleblowers on Malta have continued to be threatened and intimidated.

According to the group the government should publish the terms and include a public consultation, adding it wants “to stop once and for all the systematic abuse and threats to whistleblowers or potential witnesses who today remain silent because the government deprives them of the protection to which they are entitled if they speak.”

Exemplary is the case is a former employee of Pilatus Bank who in 2017 passed on data to Caruana Galizia revealing that a secret Panama-based company – Egrant, Inc. – belonged to Michelle Muscat, the wife of Malta’s former prime minister Joseph Muscat.

A lawyer representing former Prime Minister Joseph Muscat in a libel case has insisted that Pilatus Bank whistleblower Maria Efimova should physically come to Malta to testify about the claim that Egrant belonged to he and his wife.

Caruana Galizia had been investigating money laundering schemes in Malta based on the information contained in the 2016 Panama Papers scandal.

Efimova acted as an anonymous source for Caruana Galizia, but when the official investigation started, her identity was then revealed by the inquiring magistrate’s assistant, reported Open Democracy.

Efimova, her husband and two children fled the country, seeking asylum in Greece soon after Caruana Galizia’s murder and sought out the head of the tiny DiEM25 party, Yanis Varoufakis, a former finance minister for the previous ruling Radical Left SYRIZA.

She said it was because Varoufakis had supported whistleblowers, including jailed WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange, whom he visited in a London prison just before a judge ruled against extradition to the United States.

“Going public, sharing my story with the world, is all I have left to protect myself and my family. Like an insurance policy in case something was to happen to us”, Efimova said, fearing for her life as Malta wanted her extradited, which a Greek court barred.

Renata Ávila, a member of DiEM25´s Coordinating Collective and legal advisor on Assange's team, said Malta's pursuit of Efimova pointed out another example of an assault on whistleblowers everywhere.

“This is an urgent call for the whole EU to accelerate their implementation of the EU Whistleblowing directive. The level of violence and corruption truth tellers face and the failure of our institutions to protect them cannot continue,” she said.

Efimova in 2019 won a Special Recognition Award from Blueprint for Free Speech.

Blueprint's Executive Director, Dr. Suelette Dreyfus, played a part in shaping the EU Directive, testifying before the European Parliament on the need to extend safeguards for whistleblowers to prevent retaliation and a chilling effect for speaking out.

The Directive's key points include not just protecting whistleblowers, but their supporters, journalists, job applicants and former employees of companies who can't be dismissed or discriminated against.

It applies to those reporting breaking EU laws such as tax fraud, money laundering and public procurement offenses, public health and consumer and data protection.

Whistleblowers can also choose to report internally to their company's supervisor or public means if unsatisfied.