We report a serious misinterpretation of the Whistleblower Directive in the Macias judgment.

The whistleblower Roberto Macías has been sentenced to 2 years imprisonment in Spain for reporting information on corruption in the trade union organisation where he worked. In the ruling on the case, the judge referred to the EU Directive on Whistleblowing which is currently being implemented into Spanish law.  The judgement acknowledged that the Directive did seek to protect whistleblowers who publicly disclosed information (such as to the media) but that this required “…the person to have first made a complaint through internal or external channels, without appropriate measures having been taken”. Xnet has analysed the judgement which we find to be a serious misreading of the aims and spirit of the Directive.

The detailed analysis can be found here (in Spanish):
https://blogs.publico.es/dominiopublico/33072/la-proteccion-de-las-y-los-alertadores-que-ayudan-a-destapar-abusos-y-corrupcion-no-puede-ser-interpretable-debe-ser-un-hecho-el-caso-de-roberto-macias/