Justice Minister Owen Bonnici on Saturday dismissed a call for whistleblower status to be administered independently of the government.
Speaking to The Sunday Times of Malta, Dr Bonnici said that Nationalist MEP Francis Zammit Dimech – who made the proposal – “needs to take a look at the law”.
“What is being said about the matter shows a lack of understanding of the law,” Dr Bonnici said, adding that the Nationalist MEP was “probably speaking off the cuff”.
Dr Zammit Dimech made his recommendation in a report being drafted by the European Parliament’s Committee on Legal Affairs.
It came in the wake of a judicial protest asking for whistleblower protection that has been filed by Jonathan Ferris, a former investigator at the anti-money laundering agency (FIAU) whose job was terminated.
What is being said shows a lack of understanding of the law- Bonnici
But Mr Ferris, who says he has information on corruption, abuse of power and money laundering, has been asked by the whistleblowing unit in the Office of the Prime Minister to disclose all the information he has before being granted the status.
Read: Sacked FIAU investigator seeks whistleblower protection
Without that protection, Mr Ferris could face a five-year jail-term and a €100,000 fine for speaking out about corruption he may have witnessed during his time at the Financial Intelligence Analysis Unit.
Currently, whistleblowers looking for protection can only turn to an Internal Whistleblowing Officer in government ministries or to an External Whistleblowing Officer within the Cabinet Office. Hence Dr Zammit Dimech’s proposal.
Dr Bonnici on Saturday argued that those who make a bona fide declaration automatically get granted whistleblower protection. The authorities only get involved when the whistleblower is an accomplice in a criminal act, he added.
“I’m not aware that Mr Ferris wants to disclose information about an act in which he was an accomplice, or a perpetrator,” he said.
The Justice Minister was speaking to this newspaper a few days after addressing the European Parliament’s Civil Liberties Committee on the rule of law in Malta.
During the discussion, Dr Bonnici told MEP Ana Gomes, who is insisting Mr Ferris be granted whistleblower protection, that she does not understand how the law works.
Read: Government still has to discuss anti-SLAPP Bill
Green MEP Sven Giegold was unimpressed with Dr Bonnici’s comments during the discussion, calling them “disrespectful and non-credible”.
The MEP accused the minister of dismissing the findings of a scathing rule of law report on Malta by MEPs and of being unable to see the need for the slightest change.
Asked for his reaction, Dr Bonnici said he did not “want to enter into spats with MEPs.”
He reiterated that the picture of Malta being painted in the European Parliament was a lie.
“I’ve heard MEPs saying that the people who [the fact-finding delegation] came and spoke to were not a reflection of all of Malta,” he said.