Dissolution of the Support Committee
Press Release
Épinal, June 15, 2018
This Friday, June 15, 2018, the Support Committee to Antoine Deltour met in Épinal for its Annual General Meeting, followed by a Special Meeting approving its dissolution. Antoine Deltour was formally and fully acquitted on May 15 by the Luxembourg Court of Appeal for his role as a whistleblower in the LuxLeaks case, a scandal that had spectacularly shed light on multinationals’ systemic tax evasion schemes within the European Union itself.
Antoine Deltour Support Committee was set up more than three years ago, first in its early form by Antoine's relatives and other sympathizers, then established as an association (under the 1901 French Act) on February 28, 2015. The Committee gathered tremendous and enthusiastic civic support. Representing several hundred members, we obtained the support of 215,000 signatories of the “Support Antoine Deltour!” petition. The campaign was backed by 71 organizations, 477 personalities and thousands of donors. All of them were convinced of the merits of Antoine's action for tax justice, and of the need to better protect whistleblowers.
During the meeting, Antoine once again thanked all these supporters: “I find it wonderful that my action has spawned a collective momentum. Without this huge surge of solidarity, I wouldn’t have emerged unscathed from this long legal battle. I’m immensely grateful to all those who were right to believe in it!”
The General Assembly was an opportunity to review the work of the Support Committee since its setup: 19 trips to Luxembourg to provide moral support to the defendants during the various hearings of the LuxLeaks trial; equal number of hearing reports published on our website; 15 press releases; 11 newsletters, each sent to more than 70,000 recipients; all communications systematically published in French and English; numerous interviews; 25 work meetings; thousands of emails exchanged internally; a great activity on social networks… we have not been sitting on our hands! We would like to warmly thank all those who have contributed, directly or indirectly, in any way whatsoever, to supporting Antoine at our side.
Civic solidarity and donation campaigns also enabled us to fully fund Antoine's defense for this marathon trial, representing a total of over 90,000 €. The remaining assets of the Support Committee, some €30,000, will be redistributed to several organizations fighting for tax justice and whistleblower protection, in France and around the world. We also made a donation to the Luxembourg Solidarity Committee for the LuxLeaks defendants, with the mission of helping to fund Raphaël Halet's defense in the event of his continuing legal battle before the European Court of Human Rights.
The dissolution of the Support Committee marks the end of a fight that of Antoine Deltour to obtain an acquittal during the LuxLeaks trial. But the struggle is not over! We call on everyone to continue to mobilize for tax justice, and so that all of us, potential whistleblowers, can continue to defend the public interest.
Press Contact
Comité de soutien à Antoine Deltour
Centre Léo Lagrange
BP 1006
88050 EPINAL Cedex 9
France
Email: contact@support-antoine.org
Twitter: @support_antoine
Facebook: Support Antoine