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Business & Money

'Whistleblowers should know where to turn'

Published: 22 Feb 13 08:45 CET | Print version
Online: http://www.thelocal.se/46340/20130222/

Sweden's State Auditor (Riksrevisionen) has published a scathing criticism of the government, arguing it lacks proper overview of efforts to tackle corruption in Sweden.

State auditor Jan Landahl underscored that many corruption cases had made headlines in recent years - spanning from the Migration Board (Migrationsverket) to cases within the social security and prison services.

However, the cases should have made the Swedish government take note and get tougher on corruption, he argued.

"It is remarkable that they have no overview when you keep in mind the many state-agency corruption cases unveiled in recent years," Landahl wrote in the op-ed pages of the Dagens Nyheter (DN) newspaper on Thursday.

The prime minister, Fredrik Reinfeldt, responded that top public servants had access to information on how to implement counter-corruption measures, but said he would consider making the instructions clearer.

"If we can improve the guidelines, we shouldn't rule that out," Reinfeldt told the TT news agency.

The State Auditor, meanwhile, said all state bodies should have to do self-evaluations about whether their workplaces are vulnerable to corruption.

One fourth of state agencies do not perform such reviews today, Landahl summarized from a roundup of 65 different workplaces.

Employers should implement clear whistleblower routines for their staff, the State Auditor also argued.

"Almost all state agencies have written guidelines, but they are often very broad and not adapted to their specific field of work," he wrote.

TT/The Local/at
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00:09 February 23, 2013 by BackpackerKev
The reason there is no overview is because if you ask many Swedish people, there is no corruption. To have a system in place admits there is a problem, thats not very Swedish is it?
19:45 February 24, 2013 by krattan
Whistleblowers might find themselves locked up in an Ecuadorian Embassy.
08:23 February 25, 2013 by Kronaboy
Don't bother turning to the courts for help, they appear to be nothing more than an extension of the state.
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