MEPs have welcomed the decision of Luxembourg’s highest court to overturn the sentence of Antoine Deltour, the whistleblower who leaked thousands of documents exposing the country’s tax avoidance schemes that favour multinationals.

The court unfortunately upheld the 1,000 euro fine against his colleague, Raphael Halet. Both initially received suspended sentences but had lodged an appeal to have them annulled. 

GUE/NGL MEP Stelios Kouloglou, commented:

“It took years of fighting in the courts until Luxembourgian justice arrived at the obvious conclusion: Antoine Deltour was a whistleblower when he revealed that the Grand Duchy was acting as a tax haven. On the other hand, I find it grotesque that the verdict validates the sentence of Raphael Halet, the second whistleblower in the case.”

“The high court considered that the documents leaked by Mr Halet did not ‘provide previously unknown information, which could revive or fuel debate on tax evasion’. In other words, according to the verdict, every whistleblower should first ask for the court’s opinion on whether their information is relevant or not!”

“We support Rapahel Halet, who will continue this fight in the European Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg. After this small but important victory for Antoine Deltour, we must continue our fight for European legislation to protect whistleblowers,” Kouloglou concluded.