Famous Whistleblowers Who Inspired Change Across the Globe.
Whistleblowers have repeatedly spoken out against the misuse of entrusted power to help save millions of public funds, protect public interest from corruption, and protect people's health and the environment. The scandals they routinely uncover bring about long-lasting changes and highlight their importance in making our societies more transparent.
The significance of courageous whistleblowers who spoke out to protect the public interest in a variety of situations is demonstrated by the following whistleblower examples.
Chelsea Manning: The worst classified document leak in American history
The greatest collection of classified papers in American history was leaked by Chelsea Manning in 2010 when she was employed as an intelligence analyst for the United States Army. These records, which exposed the horrifying mistreatment and torture of detainees by the US military in Iraq and Afghanistan, were made public by Julian Assange's WikiLeaks. These breaches of human rights gave rise to a public controversy that continues to this day.
Because of the leak, Manning faced a contentious judicial battle before being found guilty of breaching the Espionage Act and receiving a 35-year jail sentence. President Obama, however, commuted her sentence after seven years in prison; she was freed in 2017 and is still an advocate for transgender rights and freedom of expression today.
Terry Bryan: Shedding light on abuse in care homes
This is just one of many whistleblower examples. An experienced nurse, Terry Bryan was working at the privately-owned Winterbourne View Hospital in the UK when he saw horrible abuse of residents who had learning disabilities. At first, he tried to follow the due process. However, when he was ignored, he forwarded his observations to the Care Quality Commission (the independent regulator of health and social care in England).
Unfortunately, the CQC did not act either, so Bryan went to the BBC. Several caregivers were imprisoned as a result of their presentation of the television program Undercover Care: The Abuse Exposed. Terry Bryan currently applies his knowledge to evaluate care facilities and assisted living facilities in South Wales, assisting in the prevention of the abuse he witnessed.
He replied in the affirmative when has was asked if he would blow the whistle once again. "If you didn't do it, how would you live with yourself?"
Libor Michálek: The renowned Czech whistleblower
Libor Michálek is regarded as something of a maverick when it comes to significant whistleblower examples in Europe. Throughout his career, he chose to come clean about two national scandals in the Czech Republic.
His first was when he discovered financial malfeasance in 1996 and was sacked from the National Property Fund. He brought his concerns to a journalist, who wrote an article on the ongoing fraud after the NPF's director had refused to listen to him. He was given his job back after a year-long legal battle.
Then in 2010 he again exposed a fraud to raise the cost of a wastewater treatment plant in Prague by $138 million, money that supervisors planned to divert into personal bank accounts when he was employed with the State Environmental Fund (SEF). It continues to rank among the largest corruption scandals in the history of Czech.