THE EPO scandals never stopped; it's media coverage that stopped, at least temporarily. The EPO bribed and blackmailed publishers. Even the very big ones (and that's really expensive, but we know who's paying!). Then it insisted that replacing Benoît Battistelli with his younger friend would miraculously solve all the problems. Staff representatives were gagged (we've produced further proof of this), Techrights is still blocked Office-wide (3 countries), and we're told that everything is OK, even if only 3% of EPO staff trust their 'new' and 'improved' President.

"The EPO bribed and blackmailed publishers."Worry not, however, as brushing dirt under a rug/carpet is a short-term strategy. That broom can't sweep everything indefinitely and politicians raise increasingly uncomfortable questions that Battistelli's allies are unable and unwilling to answer (because it would reveal them too to be complicit).

"I just came across an article in Mediapart and it is about the death of an employee at ESA, the European Space Agency located in the Netherlands, just a few kilometers away from the EPO," a reader told us today. "The article is beyond [behind] a paywall, however the important thing is that the French tribunal acknowledges the total immunity of an international organisation even if it is held responsible for the suicide of an employee."

"As it turns out, there's more on the way regarding the EPO."Remember what the Dutch court said. And contrary to what they want us to think/believe, ILO's toothless tribunal, EPO DCs etc. are no safeguards, either.

"Bad time, bad news," our reader called it, "but it might open new perspectives for the defence of the employees: the Far West law."

As it turns out, there's more on the way regarding the EPO. "It is a good thing that Mediapart shows a journalistic interest for international organisations," the reader noted. "AFAIK, they are preparing a series of articles about the EPO."

We've heard that several times this month. Let's wait and see. ⬆