Joint press statement by David Wagner, Member of the Luxembourg Parliament for déi Lénk, and GUE/NGL Member of the European Parliament, Fabio De Masi, on the start of the trial against LuxLeaks whistleblower Antoine Deltour and ICIJ journalist Edouard Perrin in Luxembourg.

On Tuesday, 26 April 2016, Fabio De Masi, GUE/NGL coordinator in the European Parliament's special TAXE committee on tax avoidance, created after the LuxLeaks scandal, will be attending the opening court session of the trial against the sources behind LuxLeaks. He will subsequently address the public at a joint press conference with David Wagner and will also speak at a public panel debate organised by the official solidarity campaign for Deltour and Perrin on Monday 25 April. Antoine Deltour who is, amongst other things, accused of theft, violation of trade secrets and breach of confidentiality, faces up to 10 years of imprisonment if convicted.

Ahead of the trial Fabio De Masi comments: “Luxembourg's judiciary is trying to intimidate those who have unveiled some of the dirty secrets of the Grand Duchy. Without people like Deltour and Perrin, neither the public nor the European Parliament would have been aware of the massive scope of tax dumping in the EU. And the European Commission would not have been in a position to significantly extend its state aid investigations on tax rulings across all Member States. It is incomprehensible for the vast majority, and a blunt violation of fundamental tax justice, if those blowing the whistle are facing jail while those organising the theft of public money remain in highest public office. It is all the more scandalous that the European Commission and the large groups in the European Parliament express compassion with and support for whistleblowers when speaking to the public while at the same time working to lower their effective protection through the trade secrets directive, adopted right after the Panama Leaks.”

David Wagner adds: “This process is unbearable in the eyes of déi Lénk and we clearly express our solidarity with the indicted. We have for long argued in favour of a robust protection of whistleblowers and we reiterated this position at our recent congress. We expect the Luxembourgish Minister of Justice to make concrete legislative proposals in this field swiftly. As regards the solidarity campaign for the indicted, we are very pleased with its success. This shows that Luxembourg does not only consist of dubious financial elites, but also has an active and critical civil society which stands up against these practices.”

The press conference with David Wagner and Fabio De Masi after the opening court session will be held on Tuesday, 26 April 2016, at 13:00 – 63, Boulevard de la Pétrusse, L-2320 Luxembourg.

The solidarity campaign for Antoine Deltour and Edouard Perrin is holding a panel debate with a contribution by Fabio De Masi on Monday 18:30 at the Casino Syndical – 63, rue de Bonnevoie, L-1260 Luxembourg. More information: http://solidarite-deltour-perrin.lu/?page_id=97

GUE/NGL Press Contact:

Gay Kavanagh +32 473 84 23 20

Nikki Sullings + 32 483 03 55 75