PACE Adopts Resolution to Improve Protection of Whistleblowers

The Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) adopted a resolution Tuesday on improving the protection of whistleblowers.

STRASBOURG (Sputnik), Daria Chernyshova – In the resolution, adopted by Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe the Assembly calls on the council of Europe member and observer states to "enact whistleblower protection laws also covering employees of national security or intelligence services and of private firms working in this field."

The resolution underlines the importance of whistleblowing "to ensure that legal limits placed on mass surveillance are respected" and calls of the governments to grant asylum to whistleblowers "as far as possible under national law."

The issue of safety of high-profile whistleblowers came into the spotlight of international attention in 2013, following the revelations by National Security Agency (NSA) former contractor Edward Snowden who leaked thousands of classified documents on US mass surveillance practices. Snowden, who faces up to 30 years in prison in the United States for espionage, has found asylum in Russia.

Another famous whistleblower, Australian national Julian Assange, who revealed thousands of sensitive diplomatic and military documents from around the world via his website WikiLeaks, has been accused of unlawful coercion and rape by Swedish authorities. Assange currently resides at the Ecuadorian Embassy in London, fearing extradition to the United States where he could face espionage charges.