World Whistleblower Day: Only One Whistleblower Sought Protection from APIK Last Year

Sarajevo, June 23, 2023 – During the last year, only one person requested protection from the Agency for Prevention of Corruption and Coordination of the Fight Against Corruption (APIK), but he/she was not granted the status of a protected corruption reporter, and this data best illustrates citizens’ trust in institutions that should protect whistleblowers.

This devastating statistic is no better in the Republic of Srpska, where last year not a single internal report for the protection of whistleblowers was recorded, while in this entity only three cases from the area regulated by the Law on the Protection of Corruption Whistleblowers are being handled. In the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina, there is still no law that protects public sector employees who decide to report corruption in the workplace, while in Brčko District last year, four applicants received protection.

On the other hand, public sector employees are far more likely to report corruption to non-governmental organizations, which shows that, where laws do exist, their implementation is at a low level, which is why “whistleblowers” are victims of persecution, discrimination and often intimidation, is the message of the round table“Defiance of Corruption Despite Retaliation: How to Better Protect Whistleblowers in Bosnia and Herzegovina?”which marked World Whistleblower Day, on June 23, organized by Transparency International in Bosnia and Herzegovina (TIBiH).

The participants of the round table pointed to the fact that in the course of 2022, TI BiH had 37 cases based on reports of “whistleblowers”, and a significant number came from the Federation of BiH, which is the only part of BiH where there is no law on the protection of persons who report corruption. Such laws exist at all other levels in BiH and since the beginning of this year also in the Sarajevo Canton, which is why persons who report corruption in the rest of the Federation of BiH are discriminated against in terms of the legal protection they can receive.

In the Republic of Srpska, the mere existence of a law that protects corruption whistleblowers is not enough for its implementation, and it is prevented due to the atmosphere of public condemnation, intimidation and even open threats by the highest political officials addressed to anyone who dares to criticize the work of institutions and publicly point to corruption. Because of this, as well as the fact that citizens are insufficiently familiar with the method of reporting and the scope of protection offered by the law, as well as the general distrust of citizens in the judiciary, there were no reports for the protection of whistleblowers in this entity last year.

The situation is no better when it comes to the institutions of Bosnia and Herzegovina, so only one person approached the Agency for Prevention of Corruption and Coordination of the Fight Against Corruption (APIK) in 2022 with a request to be granted the status of “whistleblower”, but that request was rejected, due to, in the opinion of the Agency, “failure to meet the conditions for awarding whistleblower status”. The most adequate protection is available to persons who report corruption in the Brčko District, where all four applicants were given the status of “whistleblower”, thus realizing the possibility of legal protection.

The participants of the round table recalled the case of Emir Mešić, a whistleblower who was fired after speaking about corruption in the Indirect Taxation Authority, where the APIK did not fulfill its part and did not provide him with protection from disciplinary prosecution, which is the best demonstration of the institution’s handling of to persons who report corruption. The fear of consequences and possible retaliation is the reason why the number of “whistleblowers” who turn to TI BiH far exceeds the number of those who receive the status of protected corruption informants from the competent institutions.

In contrast to official institutions, citizens of BiH who are witnesses or victims of corruption are increasingly turning to non-governmental organizations, which is confirmed by the devastating fact that APIK received 33 reports from 2014 to 2022 and granted protection to the applicants in only 11 cases, while TI BiH registered 29 such applications in just the first five months of this year. The number of reports indicates that citizens place a greater degree of trust in non-governmental organizations than in institutions when it comes to the fight against corruption, which should not be surprising since the greatest degree of protection for whistleblowers in BiH is currently provided by civil society organizations.

The inefficiency of the judiciary, which mostly resolves minor cases while major corruption scandals go unpunished, as well as the disproportionately light punishments for criminal acts of corruption, do not seem encouraging, and the lack of positive examples that received a judicial epilogue further deters citizens from reporting corruption to competent institutions.

Reports by “whistleblowers” are the most effective way to detect, process and prevent corruption, which is why TI BiH appeals to the institutions and representatives of legislative bodies in the Federation of BiH to urgently initiate procedures for passing laws that contain support measures for persons who point out abuses, providing them with all possible protection from retaliation, discrimination and unfair treatment.

TI BiH also calls on political actors throughout BiH to ensure and enable the implementation of existing laws and to prevent unacceptable pressure from top officials that has a negative impact on corruption whistleblowers, in order to provide whistleblowers with the support that the honest and uncompromising fight against corruption deserves, and which the citizens of Bosnia and Herzegovina have been waiting for years.

Press rls_23.06.23_