This is also true. In such a scenario probably an effective torture proof dead man switch (the one the whistleblower can't turn off once they kidnap him) could have helped. Something on the lines of "here's 500 pages of sensitive data in the wild about your crimes, if I or anyone of my family members disappear or die a thousand more pages will be published, and nobody can turn off this feature, including me".

I know I'm making this a lot easier than it really is...