MEP support for #LuxLeaks whistleblowers, back in court. (Again)

You may have heard that Luxembourg prosecutors aren’t satisfied with the 12th chamber of the Criminal Court of Luxembourg’s verdicts for the so-called #LuxLeaks whistleblowers Antoine Deltour and Rapahel Halet and they are appealing. That means these two men will once again face a Luxembourg court, probably by the end of the year. It was bad enough that these public spirited heroes were dragged through the courts in the first place, with Deltour receiving suspended 12-month jail time and a €1,500 fine and Halet sentenced to suspended 9-month jail time and a €1,000 fine. As far as that verdict was concerned Antoine Deltour was in no doubt about its significance, calling it “a warning towards future whistleblowers, which is detrimental to citizen’s information and the good functioning of the democracy.”

Not only do prosecutors want tougher sentences for the two whistleblowers, they also want to challenge the acquittal of French journalist Edouard Perrin, who received the documents from the two former PwC employees.

At the same time as preparations for his trial were in motion Antoine Deltour was awarded the European Citizen Prize in recognition of his contribution to the common good in making public massive tax avoidance schemes organized by multinational companies in Europe, schemes made behind closed doors that we’d never otherwise have known about. He was also commended by the EU Competition Commissioner for his actions.

Now over 100 Members of the European Parliament have written an open letter to express their support for these two men. Here it is:
 

[embeddoc url=”https://www.taxjustice.net/wp-content/uploads/2016/09/2016-09-08-Letter-Deltour-Halet.pdf”]