There cannot be a whistleblower without a disclosure – ministry

Former FIAU investigator Jonathan Ferris was asked by an OPM unit to disclose all information he had before actually being granted whistleblower status, his lawyers said in a judicial protest filed yesterday.

But the government, reacting, said that the whole concept of whistleblower protection “is based on the fact that the person who claims to be a whistleblower makes a disclosure.”

In the judicial protest, Ferris, who was fired from the FIAU in 2017, asked the attorney general to grant him whistleblower protection, arguing that he would hold the government and the attorney general responsible for negligence in their duties.

Since November, Ferris’ lawyers have been writing to government officials requesting that he receive whistleblower protection due to information he has regarding corruption, abuse of power and money laundering.

In January, Ferris’ lawyers wrote to the External Disclosure Whistleblowing Unit at the Office of the Prime Minister, who said that he was expected to provide information relative to the disclosure before protection was given.

This, the protest reads, means that Ferris has been trying to be accorded whistleblower status since November, and now was being asked to reveal information before being granted whistleblower status. The lawyers argued that this contrasts with how other whistleblowers had been treated by this administration.

The protest was signed by lawyers Jason Azzopardi, Andrew Borg Cardona and Roselyn Borg Knight.

In a statement late in the evening, the justice ministry said: “Whistleblower protection is provided according to established procedure emanating from the legislation agreed upon unanimously by both Government and Opposition in Parliament. This procedure has been adopted in all requests brought forward, including that lodged by Mr Jonathan Ferris.”

“There cannot be a whistleblower without a disclosure and one certainly cannot demand whistleblower protection without revealing what one has to disclose even if this is done confidentially to the whistleblower reporting unit or officer. The Protection of the Whistleblower Act provides for this,” the ministry said.

“The attorney general has nothing to do with initial reception of disclosures under the Protection of the Whistleblower Act, and Mr Ferris’ claim that he is being discriminated against by the attorney general is outrightly calumnious,” it said.