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Lipsic: Whistleblowers Should Be Financially Rewarded
Tuesday 21 December 2010 Zoom in | Print page
Bratislava, December 21 (TASR) - Whistleblowers that help uncover corruption or other criminal activities should be rewarded, Interior Minister Daniel Lipsic said on Tuesday at the Office for Fight Against Corruption.
He also added that he had allocated €1 million for the office to purchase new equipment designed to expose and monitor criminal activities.
"We're working on new piece of legislation with an eye towards protecting whistleblowers. More often than not, those who reported their suspicions of corruption or other criminal acts in Slovakia have in turn been discriminated against, bullied and lost their jobs, as was seen in the state forestry case or at other institutions," said Lipsic, adding that he wants to put a stop to this. "We're contemplating the idea that if their reports turn out to be true, whistleblowers should be financially rewarded."
According to Lipsic, it's important that people are not afraid to step forward and testify. He thinks that if someone helps to save the state property worth millions, they should be entitled to part of what they managed to save. The legislation which Lipsic is drafting was inspired by a similar initiative in the United States. Lipsic estimates it will be ready in second half of 2011.
"We'd like to get to some big fish and do big cases, not just petty corruption. Currently, we're seeing huge problems with public tenders, the drawing of the European funds and the like. That's where we'd like to focus our attention," said Office for the Fight Against Corruption director Peter Kovarik.
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