Antoine Deltour and his lawyers Philippe Penning and William Bourdon at the Criminal Court of Luxembourg, May, 2016. Wikicommons/Ato Grosso. Some rights reserved.In an era where there is an ever-growing thirst for transparency and accountability, whistleblowers who expose threats or harm to the public interest are increasingly important.
Nonetheless, they continue to face retaliation including prosecution, loss of jobs, intimidation, physical assaults and forced exile around the world.
Moves to ring-fence secret spheres in Europe pose an additional threat to the protection of whistleblowers. Indeed, the European trade secrets directive, laws protecting national security, and national case-laws on confidentiality of investigations imperil freedom of expression and the capacity of individuals to blow the whistle when they witness wrongdoings that impact the welfare of the general public.
